Kuddly Raises 1.5 Million to Expand Pet Healthcare App

Healthcare app developers have been hitting the prime time the past couple years, with house-call apps for doctors revolutionizing elder access to medical assistance in many urban areas. Meanwhile, health-monitoring apps for wearable devices have exploded in popularity, bringing preventative medicine to the lives of millions of users — safely, effectively, and affordably.

But as any Chicago iPhone app developer knows, explosively popular industries often harbor opportunity in the most unlikely of places; and mobile app startup company Kuddly is living proof of that fact, finding a sleeper hit in a service that brings the concept of healthcare apps to the veterinary world; a vertical largely dominated by pricey pet hospitals and smaller local offices with limited, inconvenient hours.

The concept of Kuddly, which has been available to download since this summer, is simple enough: pet owners need advice for how to care for their animals, and many visits to the vet end with simple advice. Kuddly saves pet owners money and veterinarians time by connecting the two in a mobile app marketplace that crowdsources answers to specific questions from pet owners from qualified, vetted animal health professionals. (Pun intended.)

Advice via email costs $2, and 12 minutes of live chat with a vet goes for $10 on-demand. For many pet owners, Kuddly has proven to be a lifesaver, helping them determine if a full visit to the vet is necessary, as well as implement expert guidance on how to resolve pet health issues right away — rather than a week later, when there’s finally a spot open at the local animal hospital and it may be too late.

Kuddly iPhone app developers haven’t been the only group to see opportunity in the pet healthcare mobile app arena. In October of this year they received a massive $1.5 million investment from Exponential Partners. Sources at the company have stated that the funding will be put to use expanding the technology behind their platform and driving growth within the marketplace.

For iPhone app developers, the message here is loud and clear: in crowded industries, sometimes the biggest opportunities come when you start to think small.