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- Vets First Choice
Vets First Choice Funding, Investors & Competitors
Vets First Choice has raised $287M across 4 funding rounds, most recently a $223M undisclosed-stage round in July 2017.
Last Vets First Choice funding round
$223M
Undisclosed stage · Jul 2017
Cumulative funding Vets First Choice raised
$287M
across 4 funding rounds
Key investors in Vets First Choice
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Sequoia Capital
Hillhouse Investment
Wellington Management
Viking Global Investors
Rock Springs Capital
HLM Venture Partners
About Vets First Choice
Vets First Choice is a Portland-based platform connecting veterinary clinics to online pharmacies and telehealth services across North America. Founded in 2010, it enables prescription fulfillment with next-day home delivery and compliance tracking via apps. Integrated with 10,000 practices, the service uses data analytics for refill reminders on flea preventives and heartworm meds. Acquired by Henry Schein in 2019, it now operates as a key component of veterinary commerce.
Founded
2009
HQ
Website
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Subscription
Sectors
Vets First Choice Funding History
Vets First Choice has raised a total of $287M across 4 funding rounds.
Vets First Choice's first fundraising round was a $7M Series A in June 2013. The most recent completed round was a $223M undisclosed-stage round in July 2017.
Vets First Choice funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2017 | Undisclosed stage | Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (lead); Hillhouse Investment (lead); Wellington Management; Sequoia Capital; Rock Springs Capital; Viking Global Investors | $223M | Vets First Choice, founded in 2010 in Portland, Maine, provides technology-enabled e-commerce and pharmacy services to veterinary practices, helping them track medication compliance, retain prescription revenue lost to online retailers, and improve practice profitability through data insights and reminders for pet owners. The company serves over 20,000 veterinary practices across the U.S. with 16 distribution centers and was rapidly scaling by doubling its employee count from 400 to 800 in 2017 to support growth. On July 19, 2017, Vets First Choice raised $223 million in equity financing led by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Hillhouse Capital Group (also known as Hillhouse Investment), with participation from Sequoia Heritage, Rock Springs Capital, Viking Global Investors, and Wellington Management. This minority investment, the largest single sum in a privately held Maine company in decades, brought total outside funding to $285.8 million and was intended to fuel international expansion into Europe and Asia, accelerate hiring, launch new services, and support acquisitions like Roadrunner Pharmacy and Atlas Pharmaceuticals. Vets First Choice had previously appeared on Inc.'s list of fastest-growing companies, showing revenue progression from $2.8 million in 2010 to $18.7 million in 2013 (573% growth) and $60.9 million in 2015. The investors, including public funds, positioned the company for potential IPO, highlighting its role as a game-changer in veterinary care through technology and analytics. |
| Jul 2015 | Undisclosed stage | Clayton, Dubilier & Rice | $52M | Vets First Choice was a leading provider of cloud-based prescription management, pharmacy services, marketing solutions, and practice analytics for equine and companion animal veterinary practitioners in the US, partnering with practices to offer turn-key outsourced pharmacy and prescription management supported by pet owner communication tools to boost profitability, compliance, inventory reduction, and client engagement. The company received accreditations like Vet-VIPPS and PCAB and endorsements from industry leaders. In July 2015, it secured a significant growth investment from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) along with existing shareholders, reported as $52.3 million in some coverage or including an initial $40 million tranche, to accelerate and expand services amid industry disruption. At the time of CD&R's 2015 investment, Vets First Choice had $55 million in revenue, primarily from online pharmacy operations in the US, as stated by CD&R partners reflecting on the company's starting point before major expansion. CD&R's total investment reached about $100 million by 2019, including the 2015 commitment, yielding a 4.8x return on their stake by the Covetrus IPO based on investor documents. Post-investment, Vets First Choice pursued acquisitions like Veterinary Pet Insurance's pharmacy assets in November 2015 and grew significantly, culminating in a 2019 merger with Henry Schein's spun-off Animal Health business to form Covetrus, a global animal health platform. Henry Schein shareholders owned ~63% and Vets First Choice shareholders ~37% of the new entity, with synergies projected over $100 million in year-three operating income. Covetrus went public in February 2019 and later saw CD&R and TPG acquire it in 2022 at ~$4 billion enterprise value after transforming to over $4.6 billion revenue. |
| Mar 2015 | Series A | - | $5M | Vets First Choice completed a funding round in 2015 led by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice with existing shareholders, raising over $40 million, reported variously as $40+ million, $52.3 million, or $52 million. The funds were intended to accelerate and expand the company's cloud-based prescription management, pharmacy services, marketing solutions, and practice analytics for equine and companion animal veterinary practitioners nationwide. Founded four years prior in Portland, Maine, the company had grown rapidly and was named one of America's fastest-growing companies by Inc. Magazine in 2012, 2013, and 2014. |
| Jun 2013 | Series A | HLM Venture Partners (lead) | $7M | Vets First Choice, headquartered in Portland, Maine, provides home delivery of FDA- and EPA-approved pharmaceuticals, therapeutic diets, and compounded medications to pet owners on behalf of veterinary clinics. The company partners with over 6,000 veterinary hospitals to help practices improve medical compliance, reduce inventory costs, and enhance customer service. On June 17, 2013, Vets First Choice raised $6.5 million from Black Point Group, Borealis Ventures, HLM Venture Partners, and Polaris Partners, with valuation undisclosed. |
Who has invested in Vets First Choice?
7 investors have backed Vets First Choice across its funding rounds, including Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Sequoia Capital, Hillhouse Investment, Wellington Management, Viking Global Investors and Rock Springs Capital.
Lead investors include Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Hillhouse Investment and HLM Venture Partners.
Vets First Choice Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Lead | Jul 2015 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Jul 2017 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Jun 2013 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Jul 2017 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Jul 2017 | ||
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Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by Vets First Choice
Vets First Choice has acquired 3 companies to date.
Last acquisition by Vets First Choice was on December 20th 2018. Vets First Choice acquired Henry Schein Animal Health for undisclosed valuation.
Latest Acquisitions by Vets First Choice
| Description | Henry Schein Animal Health distributes veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, dental products, equipment, diagnostics, and software to animal health professionals worldwide. Melville, New York-headquartered as a division of Henry Schein, Inc., it supports practices serving companion animals, equine, and livestock sectors. | Roadrunner Pharmacy is a Phoenix-headquartered veterinary compounding pharmacy founded in 1999, serving over 15,000 US practices exclusively with pet medications. It customizes back-ordered drugs, discontinued formulas, and flavored suspensions in owner-friendly forms, shipping new prescriptions next-day air free nationwide with in-house delivery locally. | Atlas Pharmaceuticals is a US-based 503B outsourcing facility producing sterile and non-sterile compounded drugs for human hospitals under cGMP standards. Located in Colorado, it manufactures customized injectables and topicals unavailable from manufacturers, serving clinics nationwide. Established in 2017 from Eaton Veterinary's expertise, it focuses on back-ordered oncology and critical care medications. |
| HQ Country | |||
| HQ City | - | Phoenix, AZ | Phoenix, AZ |
| Deal Date | 20 Dec 2018 | 10 Aug 2017 | 10 Aug 2017 |
| Valuation | undisclosed | undisclosed | undisclosed |
| EV/Revenue | |||
| EV/EBITDA | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Vets First Choice acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples. Start Free Trial | |||
Vets First Choice Competitors
Vets First Choice competitors include listed companies like Rollins, Madison Air, Service Corporation International and H&R Block, and private ones like Papa and Vagaro.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publicly listed | $3.8B | $854M | $16B | 4.2x | ||
| Publicly listed | $3.5B | $697M | $12B | 3.9x | ||
| Publicly listed | $4.3B | $1.3B | $11B | 3.6x | ||
| Publicly listed | $3.9B | $1.1B | $5.5B | 1.7x | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.4B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $1B | - |
Vets First Choice Public Comps
Vets First Choice is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Rollins, Madison Air, Service Corporation International, H&R Block, Frontdoor, Bright Horizons Family, CVS Group, CEWE Group, XPS Pensions Group and Musti Group.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $3.8B | $854M | 4.5x | 4.2x | 19.8x | 19.1x | |||
| $3.5B | $697M | 4.2x | 3.9x | 21.1x | 14.6x | |||
| $4.3B | $1.3B | 3.7x | 3.6x | 11.9x | 11.7x | |||
| $3.9B | $1.1B | 1.7x | 1.7x | 6.3x | 6.2x | |||
| $2.1B | $484M | 2.9x | 2.8x | 12.5x | 10.4x | |||
| $2.9B | $408M | 1.8x | 1.7x | 12.6x | 10.2x | |||
| $904M | $152M | 1.7x | 1.6x | 10.0x | 8.0x | |||
| $1B | $160M | 0.8x | 0.9x | 5.3x | 5.3x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Vets First Choice competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Vets First Choice
| When was Vets First Choice founded? | Vets First Choice was founded in 2009. |
| Where is Vets First Choice headquartered? | Vets First Choice is headquartered in Portland, OR, United States. |
| Is Vets First Choice publicly listed? | No, Vets First Choice is a private, VC-backed company. |
| How much funding has Vets First Choice raised? | Vets First Choice has raised $287M across 4 funding rounds. |
| What was Vets First Choice's last funding round? | Vets First Choice's last funding round was a $223M undisclosed-stage round in July 2017, led by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Hillhouse Investment. |
| Who are Vets First Choice's investors? | Vets First Choice's investors include Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Wellington Management, HLM Venture Partners, Hillhouse Investment, Sequoia Capital, Rock Springs Capital and Viking Global Investors. |
| Which companies are comparable to Vets First Choice? | Companies comparable to Vets First Choice include Rollins, Madison Air, Service Corporation International, H&R Block, Papa and Vagaro. |
| How many companies has Vets First Choice acquired? | Vets First Choice has acquired 3 companies, including Henry Schein Animal Health, Roadrunner Pharmacy and Atlas Pharmaceuticals. |
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