Digital health book for pets has gone from disappointment to dewy-eyed capital

This post is also available in: Danish

After a long and challenging journey, Danish startup Fauna can finally head into the future with new energy. The company behind a digital health book for pets has just secured a DKK 750,000 investment through the Keystones network. The investment marks a turning point after a year of financial pressure and an investment that fell through at the last minute earlier this year.

Now Fauna can focus on expanding their product and realizing their vision of digitizing the pet world. Fauna has a clear goal: make life easier for pet owners while modernizing an industry that is still largely analog. Their core product is an app that acts as a digital health book for pets. Here, owners can easily keep track of vaccinations, health checks and other important information. According to Fauna’s CEO, Benjamin Oxenvad Rasmussen, the app was created to solve the practical challenges that pet owners and industry players often face.

“Think of our product as the ‘My Doctor’ app, but for pets. Our ambition is to create a link between pet owners and the many players in the industry so we can start a digital transformation of the pet world,” he explains.

The app is especially useful for clinic visits, dog training, grooming or buying and selling pets, where documentation is often required.

From headwind…

Although Fauna now has an investment and a product with a solid track record with 3000 users, the road has been anything but easy. Ten months ago, founders Benjamin Oxenvad Rasmussen and Jørgen Christian Heinsen were close to closing a deal for a significant capital injection, but negotiations broke down at the last minute.

“It was hugely disappointing. We had worked intensively for four months without pay to keep the company going, but suddenly we were left with an empty box and an uncertain future,” says Benjamin Oxenvad Rasmussen.

However, adversity was not the end for Fauna. Instead, they put all their efforts into finding new investors. It was the start of a long process where Fauna participated in numerous events and pitches to gain access to capital.

“We refused to give up. We had found a direction for the product, and the positive feedback from pet owners gave us the belief that we had something that could succeed,” says Benjamin Oxenvad Rasmussen.

…to tailwind

After almost 12 months of searching, Fauna managed to land an investment through the Keystones network. The $750,000, which comes from a group of private investors, will allow the company to take the next step in their journey. The funds will be used to expand the app’s functionality, scale the user base and strengthen collaboration with industry players.

“The money will help us grow and improve our product. Among other things, we plan to add new features to make the app even more user-friendly for pet owners and more valuable for stakeholders like veterinarians and breeders,” Benjamin explains.

Part of the strategy also involves forming more partnerships with organizations such as the Danish Kennel Club, which the Aarhus-based startup recently partnered with and has approved Fauna as official documentation.

Ambitions for international scaling

With the investment, Fauna is now in a position to focus on growth in Denmark and eventually expand to the rest of the Nordic region.

“Denmark is our clear priority right now, but our product is designed to scale internationally,” says Benjamin Oxenvad Rasmussen.

He points out that many of the systems and documents Fauna works with are standardized across countries, making it easier to spread the concept to new markets.

“The vaccines and documents we digitize are the same across Europe, so we have an ambition to roll it out in other countries as well,” Benjamin Oxenvad Rasmussen.

For Fauna, the new investment marks a much-needed milestone after a challenging year, and the founders are now looking forward to the future.

“It’s been a tough journey, but we are grateful that we can now focus on developing and growing our product. We have a strong vision for Fauna, and now it’s up to us to realize it,” says Benjamin Oxenvad Rasmussen.