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A shimmering golden retriever, Caleb, looks like Air Bud. He loves running on the beach, is called “California Caleb” on Instagram, and lives in West Los Angeles with his owner, Rich Cooper. Cooper stopped Steven Eidelman, founder and CEO of veterinary clinic network Modern Animal mid-walk.
“You’re the Modern Animal guy, right?” Cooper asked Eidelman, who confirmed he is, in fact, The Modern Animal Guy. Eidelman’s not LA famous by any means, but he’s apparently LA-dog-owner-famous. And he wanted to tell Eidelman himself: He and Caleb, still warmly glistening on the ground, had been having a good experience.
“That’s what we started the company to do,” said Eidelman, whose previous startup, Whistle, sold to Mars in 2016 for $119 million. “The only thing that matters is how you show up in every clinic.”
Back in the Santa Monica clinic, as spaniels, doodles, and cats passed through, Eidelman and I talked in the waiting room, something possible only because the reception desks at Modern Animal are phoneless. As Eidelman points out: “If you get 100 to 200 phone calls a day as an average vet practice, how can you focus on the ten people in the lobby?”
In 2024, Modern Animal clocked 85% revenue growth year‑over‑year, reaching a $100 million run rate, the company said. Recently, Modern Animal raised $46 million in Series D funding, the company exclusively told Fortune. The round was led by Addition, Upfront Ventures, and True Ventures, with participation from Founders Fund. As the company’s been growing, Eidelman has been drawing inspiration from retail businesses, which seek to answer the same question that Modern Animal does: “How do you build an iconic brand business that ultimately lives in communities?” Retail’s a sector that Mark Suster, managing partner at Upfront Ventures, knows well.
“Steven and [Modern Animal COO] Ashley [Peterson Siegler] understand four-wall economics, which is what retail is called,” said Suster. “They understand how to provide great service, how to build a brand, and how to have consistency… Being good at running a business matters, and they’re excellent.”
Technology—especially AI—is also central to Modern Animal’s trajectory. “We’ve been entirely growing organically,” said Eidelman, noting that tech’s been a key driver. Modern Animal has its own software platform (called “Claude,” no relation to Anthropic) and has deployed AI-powered tools geared towards vets’ workflows. The company’s growth has been deliberate, building on existing markets. (Modern Animal currently operates 27 clinics across California, Texas, and Colorado.) AI applications have been an iterative process, with trial and error.
“To doctors, technology is a tool, just like a scalpel or a retractor is a tool,” said Keith Hackbarth, Modern Animal VP of engineering and the company’s first employee, via email. “If there’s any sense that quality of care could be compromised because of that tool, they will reject it.”
What’s perhaps most compelling about Modern Animal—and veterinary businesses as a whole—is that they’re kaleidoscopic. Vet clinics are at “the front lines of the economy,” said Eidelman. It’s a private equity-filled industry sensitive to inflation, healthcare pressures, consumer expectations, labor dynamics, and sweeping demographic trends around pet ownership.
In the end, Eidelman’s betting that the right mix of tech, people, and efficiency can help cut down vet burnout and ballooning vet bills, making people, pets, and vets healthier. “Most veterinarians are great,” he says. “It’s just that the system they operate in isn’t.”
See you tomorrow,
Allie GarfinkleX: @agarfinksEmail: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.comSubmit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.
Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter. Subscribe here.
Venture Deals
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Private Equity
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Funds + Funds Of Funds
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People
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