Koala Health Secures $20M to Revolutionize Pet Prescriptions
In the bustling world of pet ownership, where furry family members demand round-the-clock care, Gavin Cotter saw a glaring gap. Pets get sick too, but getting their medications shouldn't feel like navigating a human pharmacy maze. Koala Health emerged from this frustration, betting big on technology to revolutionize pet prescriptions—and it paid off with a $20 million Series B in 2025.
Early Days: A Frustrated Pet Parent's Spark
Gavin Cotter didn't set out to build a pet pharmacy empire. Like many founders, his journey began with a personal pain point. As a new pet owner in 2020, Gavin watched his dog battle a chronic condition. Vet visits were straightforward enough, but filling prescriptions? That was a nightmare. Long lines at specialty pharmacies, confusing insurance hurdles, and delays in delivery turned what should have been routine care into a stressful ordeal.
"Every time I needed meds for my dog, it felt like I was starting from scratch," Gavin later reflected. He spent hours on hold with pharmacies, faxing records back and forth, and praying the shipment arrived before his pup's supply ran dry. This wasn't unique to him—millions of pet parents faced the same archaic system built for humans, not the 70% of American households with pets.
By early 2021, amid the pandemic's pet adoption boom, Gavin quit his tech job to prototype a solution. He envisioned an online platform where vets could send prescriptions digitally, pet owners could order with one click, and medications arrived at the door—fast, affordable, and transparent. Koala Health was born in a small apartment in San Francisco, with Gavin coding the MVP himself using off-the-shelf tools like Stripe for payments and Twilio for notifications.
The first challenge hit hard: regulatory hurdles. Pet medications fall under strict veterinary oversight, and integrating with electronic health records (EHR) systems used by vets proved trickier than expected. Gavin cold-emailed dozens of clinic owners, offering free trials. Most ignored him. "I had zero traction for months," he admitted. "It was just me, a laptop, and a lot of rejection emails." To bootstrap, he manually processed the first orders, driving to pharmacies himself and hand-delivering where needed.
Funding was another beast. Bootstrapping on savings, Gavin pitched over 100 angels. Many loved the idea but balked at the "unsexy" pharmacy space. He scraped by with a $500K seed from friends and family, enough to hire his first engineer and launch a beta in late 2021.
Key Milestones: From Zero to $20M Momentum
The breakthrough came in spring 2022. A mid-sized vet chain in the Bay Area signed on after Gavin demoed the platform live. Within weeks, their prescriptions flowed seamlessly to Koala's pharmacy partners. Pet owners raved about the app's simplicity—no more fax machines. First revenue trickled in: $10K in month one, scaling to $50K by quarter's end.
- 2022 Pivot to B2B2C: Early focus on direct-to-consumer sales shifted when Gavin realized vets were the gatekeepers. Koala built an integrated platform for clinics, earning a cut per prescription while offering owners home delivery. This dual-sided model exploded growth—clinic partnerships jumped 300% in six months.
- First Major Revenue Milestone: Hit $1M ARR by Q4 2022, fueled by word-of-mouth from happy vets. A viral TikTok from a pet influencer showcasing "one-tap refills" drove 5K sign-ups overnight.
- Series A in 2023: $8M round at $30M valuation from top-tier VCs impressed by 10x YoY growth and sticky retention—80% of customers reordered monthly.
- Tech Bet Pays Off: Invested heavily in AI for personalized dosing recommendations and predictive inventory, reducing stockouts by 90%. Expanded to all 50 states by mid-2024.
- $20M Series B (May 2025): Closed amid a frosty VC market, valuing Koala at $150M+. The round funded nationwide expansion, new warehouse automation, and deeper EHR integrations.
Behind the headlines, struggles persisted. Supply chain snarls in 2023 delayed shipments, eroding trust. Gavin's team pulled all-nighters repackaging orders from backups. Competition heated up from big pharma players sniffing opportunity. Yet, Koala's edge—vet-owner sync and lightning-fast delivery—kept churn low at under 5%.
"This funding allows Koala to continue investing in the technology and service infrastructure required to support modern pet health," Gavin told Business Insider post-Series B. The quote captured years of grinding to make pet care as seamless as human telehealth.
Today, Koala serves 500+ vet partners, ships 100K+ prescriptions monthly, and boasts a NPS of 85. What started as a solo hustle now employs 50, with eyes on IPO trajectory.
Lessons Learned: Battle-Tested Advice for Founders
Gavin's path offers hard-won wisdom for indie hackers and early-stage builders chasing product-market fit in tough markets.
- Start with the Gatekeepers. Koala's pivot to vets unlocked scale. Direct-to-consumer feels intuitive, but in regulated spaces like health, the pros control access. Map your ecosystem early—win them, and customers follow. Gavin spent his first seed on vet sales tools, turning skeptics into evangelists.
- Tech Isn't the Hero; Service Is. The $20M bet on AI and infra worked because it amplified human touch. During shortages, Gavin's team personally called affected owners. Founders obsess over code, but retention comes from empathy. "Build tech that serves people, not replaces them," he advises.
- Fundraise with Proof, Not Promises. In 2025's tight market, Koala stood out with metrics: 300% MoM growth pre-Series A. Gavin nurtured investor relationships year-round, sharing weekly updates. Skip hype; ship milestones that scream traction.
These insights aren't theory. They're forged from near-failures—like the time a key supplier bailed, forcing a frantic warehouse pivot—and triumphs, like landing a Fortune 500 pet brand partnership.
What is your biggest takeaway from Gavin's journey? Have you built in a regulated space or pivoted to serve pros first? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
