Two of those pet owners have teamed up to build the medical records platform they can all use.
Vincent Harvey II and Ja’Mel Ware, who both soon-to-be MBA graduates from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, are building Fetch Files. As its name suggests, Fetch Files aims to be a pet’s complete medical history in a secure, organized, and shareable fashion.
With medical records at a pet parent’s fingertips, they do not have to worry about tracking down vaccination, medication histories, or other documents when going to another vet clinic, when traveling, or when heading to the groomer.
“It is hard to keep track and manage every record,” Harvey told Hypepotamus, especially, he notes, for people like him who have multiple pets. One of his cats, Big Foot, has moved with him over three different states, meaning her medical records are scattered across all three.
The platform is built on three pillars: Pet record tracking, collaboration on pet information, and their care mobility platform to help with travel logistics. Vet-side solutions do exist, but they typically require pet owners to stay within a single company’s network. With Fetch Files, the value is having all information in one place that stays with a pet throughout its life.
From Classroom to Techstars
Harvey and Ware met through classes at Goizueta and started working on the early concepts for FetchFiles during an entrepreneurship class taught by Professor Charlie Goetz. Both pet owners and fathers, the two wanted to find a way to streamline the paperwork that came from their “fur babies.”
After the course wrapped, Harvey and Ware headed over to The Hatchery and Techstars Emory, a ten-week program focused on helping startups achieve investment-readiness. The program sharpened their approach to customer discovery and led to a key insight about who their customer actually is.
“Yes, pet parents are our customers. But the true customer is the pet itself. So we are looking to follow pets from adoption through life. So no matter where a pet may end up, we will always have their records, and the parent can always have access…even if it’s a new parent,” said Ware.
Ultimately, the team sees an opportunity in partnering with veterinary medical schools, clinics, and shelters.
Following graduation, which takes place next week, the FetchFiles team is looking to connect with pet influencers and key pet-related organizations to fuel their growth.