Snout
Footwork leads the Series A in the leading platform enabling pet wellness plans through vet clinics.
When we started Footwork over four years ago, the pet market was one of the ones we most wanted to find an investment in. Prior to launching our firm, back in 2017, Nikhil was fortunate to lead the Series A of The Farmer’s Dog, the leading fresh pet food brand, which has since scaled to billions in annual revenue. So we had seen firsthand one of the consumer mega trends of the past decade: we humans love our pets, we’re getting more of them, and we’re increasingly treating them as humans.
We spent time meeting every pet-related company we could find, to no avail, until earlier this year, when we were introduced to Emily Dong, founder and CEO of Snout, by fellow founder and exec coach, Nick Moryl.
Emily explained that, while the mega trend of the humanization of pets continues to hold strong, the veterinarian market is going through several shifts. Vet prices are at all-time highs, thanks to growing demand and the consolidation of vet clinics by private equity. This is leading to a lot of pet parents choosing simply to avoid the vet, and consequently, 2025 saw vet visits actually go down year-over-year. A set of pets are not getting the routine care they need which does not bode well for their health. And these are the “why now”s that are catalyzing the growth of Emily’s company, Snout, which has scaled to millions in annual revenue, growing 5X year-over-year.
Snout’s B2B2C platform enables vet clinics to offer wellness plans to their customers. By becoming a Snout member, a pet parent can have peace of mind that all their routine care is covered, such as vaccines, monthly medications, and parasite screening. They get unlimited telemedicine and office visits. Vet clinics get a loyal customer, predictable revenue, and fewer uncomfortable conversations about paying bills. Most importantly, the pet’s health is prioritized instead of being neglected.
As a result of this win-win-win, Snout’s business is flourishing, with over 250 veterinary providers already in-network, including at 8 of the top 15 largest national clinic groups. As we spent more time with Emily, we got more and more excited about Snout’s signs of product-market fit, the enormous market it’s going after in pet health and wellness , and the team she’s built, including COO David Nietzke and CTO Kyle Cartmell. It also became clear that Snout is Emily’s life’s work, having been building in the pet space for more than a decade, and seeing first hand the challenges of navigating the pet healthcare system with her own dog, Bowser.
Today, we’re delighted to announce Snout’s $10M Series A, led by Footwork, with participation from existing investors Pear VC, Bread and Butter Ventures, and Griffon Partners. The company’s also raised $100M in a non-dilutive capital line from Clear Haven to fund payments to thousands of clinics and support pet parents nationwide. Read more about the journey so far and path ahead in this piece from Allie Garfinkle at Fortune that was published in Term Sheet this morning, and from Emily here.
Snout is another Footwork portfolio company that is both consumer and enterprise in its nature. Their platform is loved by both pet parents and vet clinics, for it enables the wellness plans that work well for both sides. It also plays into themes we’ve written about and invested in for years, including consumer subscriptions and democratizing access.
It’s a joy to partner with Emily, David, Kyle, and the Snout team on their mission to ensure no one ever has to make a healthcare decision for their pet based on the money in their bank account. If that resonates with you, we’re hiring, across the board (customer success, engineering, finance, marketing, operations, recruiting, and sales!), particularly in Michigan and New York City. Come join us.
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