Cargill forays into digital pet healthcare with Zoonivet

Commodity giant Cargill has announced its expansion into pet care industry in India with a digital venture, a pet-care app called Zoonivet.

Zoonivet is a homegrown start-up incubated under Cargill Digital Studio. The Cargill Digital Studio is a start-up studio backed by Cargill investment and expertise, designed to incubate and scale digital businesses within Cargill that address the most urgent problems facing our global food and agriculture system.

Launched in October last year, Zoonivet is a telehealth platform to simplify pet healthcare by connecting pet parents with qualified veterinarians remotely via video call, for their pet’s primary healthcare needs. It is designed to bring convenient and accessible veterinary care to pets through e-consultation available to pet owners across the country, the company said in a statement.

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Since inception, Zoonivet has completed over 800 video consultations pan-India and has crossed over one lakh downloads. This year, Zoonivet has introduced home vaccination services on the app. The service, which has been piloted in Bengaluru, has already completed over 400 vaccinations, and the home vaccination service will be extended to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Lucknow by end of this year. The pet healthcare brand has also launched surgery and home diagnostic services for pets in Bengaluru, and in the future, plans to scale the platform to offer these, and additional services such as medication, pet food and pet boarding in all key markets pan-India, the company said.

“At Cargill, we are committed to improving the lives of consumers by bringing innovative and customised technology interventions to the forefront. Last year, we announced the launch of Digital Saathi, a mobile-first, AI-based local online service platform to support farmers. This year, with Zoonivet, we are signalling further investment in the space of digital pet healthcare,” said Simon George, president, Cargill India.

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Fastest growing pet-care markets

Ruchir Vatsal, Founder, Zoonivet, said, “India is one of the world’s fastest growing pet-care markets in the world. We currently have a population of over 22 million dogs and 5 million cats in the country, and an annual growth rate of 17 per cent. With Zoonivet, we’re bringing pet-care to consumers’ doorstep and solving everyday problems like commuting in busy metros, taking time off work, scheduling appointments with a vet. As we expand further, we will continue adding tech-led interventions to enhance the consumer experience on the app, while ensuring fur babies get quality services, at the click of a button.”

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