Wednesday, January 28, 2026

As vet bills jump 40% in recent years, startup Snout raises $110 million for its ‘membership’ model to defray costs

U.S. homes have more pets than children.

And it’s pretty lopsided. If the American Pet Products Association is to be believed, about 70% of American households have at least one pet, while, per the last U.S. Census, only about 40% of homes include a child younger than 18.

“Pets have become family, and we’re absolutely going to continue moving in that direction,” said Emily Dong, founder and CEO of pet wellness plan provider Snout.

Dong has worked in the pet industry for more than a decade, and her previous company, Pawprint, was acquired in 2020. She founded Snout in 2023 to help solve a key problem in pet care—that vet care operates almost entirely on cash (or perhaps credit) at the time of service. In pet care, Dong said, there’s limited billing and insurance backstop.

“With inflation and private equity coming into the space, prices have gone up 40% over the last five years and people can’t afford basic things,” said Dong. “So, it’s terrifying to go to the vet. You don’t know what vaccines will cost, and you’re not going to get out of there for less than $300 to $500, even if nothing’s wrong.” Snout, to this end, focuses on covering preventative care, and effectively turns vet bills into memberships. Costs vary based on plan, but on average customers are paying $65 a month for Snout to help take care of vet costs upfront. Over time, customers pay Snout back. That’s why Snout raised both debt and equity. The idea: Debt funds that no-interest, no-credit-check financing marketplace, while equity funds company operations.

Snout has raised $10 million in Series A funding, led by Footwork, and $100 million in debt financing from Clear Haven Capital Management, the company has exclusively confirmed to Fortune. Other Series A backers include Bread and Butter Ventures, Pear, and Restive Ventures. For Footwork, Snout is a surprise—it’s the Mike Smith and Nikhil Basu Trivedi-founded VC firm’s first investment out of its recently-raised $225 million second fund. And there’s no AI in sight.

Read the whole story here.

See you tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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VENTURE CAPITAL

- Claroty, a New York City-based cyber-physical systems protection company, raised $150 million in Series F funding led by Golub Growth.

- Mesh, a San Francisco-based crypto payments network, raised $75 million in Series C funding. Dragonfly Capital led the round and was joined by Paradigm, Moderne Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, SBI Investment, and Liberty City Ventures.

- Compa, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based AI platform designed for compensation teams, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Jump Capital led the round and was joined by Crosslink Capital, Storm Ventures, and others.

- Evaro, a Norwich, U.K.-based digital health care platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding. AlbionVC led the round and was joined by Simplyhealth Ventures, Exceptional Ventures, Cornerstone VC, and BBI.

- Fulcrum, a San Francisco-based AI platform designed for insurance brokerages, raised $25 million across seed and Series A rounds led by CRV and joined by South Park Commons, Foundation Capital, and angel investors.

- Antheia, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based biosynthesis company, raised $24 million in Series C funding. ATHOS KG and America’s Frontier Fund led the round and were joined by existing investors.

- BoldVoice, a New York City-based AI-powered voice coaching platform for non-native English speakers, raised $21 million in Series A funding. Matrix led the round and was joined by Flybridge, Xfund, Corazon Capital, Alumni Ventures, Umami Capital, and Y Combinator.

- Opendate, an Indianapolis, Ind.-based platform designed to combine booking, ticketing, and marketing for live events, raised $14 million in Series A funding. High Alpha led the round and was joined by existing investors.

- Limy, a New York City-based platform designed to help companies surface in AI search, raised $10 million in seed funding. Flybridge led the round and was joined by a16z speedrun and others.

- Risotto, a San Francisco-based A-powered autonomous help desk, raised $10 million in seed funding. Bonfire Ventures led the round and was joined by 645 Ventures, Y Combinator, Ritual Capital, Surgepoint Capital, and others.

- Brickanta, a Stockholm, Sweden-based agentic AI platform designed for construction workflows, raised $8 million in seed funding. Northzone led the round and was joined by angel investors.

- SpotDraft, a New York City-based AI-powered contract lifecycle management platform, raised $8 million in a Series B extension from Qualcomm Ventures.