AMES, Iowa, June 11, 2019 – Ag Startup Engine (ASE), at the Iowa State University (ISU) Research Park, announced that it has made an investment in Ames, Iowa based startup VetMeasure, Inc. – which is commercializing technology in the $70 billion a year pet-care space by monitoring dogs post-surgery.
VetMeasure’s MeasureON! harness is currently designed for dogs and detects key health metrics to continuously monitor critical care patients and those recovering from surgery. This allows health conditions such as hypothermia to be identified and treated earlier, thus reducing the patient’s length of recovery. MeasureON! monitors a dog’s temperature, respiration, and heart rate, and the dog’s environmental temperature and humidity. These metrics are sent to a mobile and web application to be viewed by veterinarians and clinic staff. Through setting personalized safe ranges, automated alerts are sent to the vets and vet techs when a dog nears critical levels.
“VetMeasure’s technology has the ability to dramatically improve an animal’s recovery rate through consistent, reliable health metrics. We’re excited to work with Ag Startup Engine because we’re confident that the harness will have an impact on animal and livestock health throughout the future,” said Kevin Maher, Founder and President of VetMeasure. “ASE funding will help advance our Series A equity round toward product release and hiring of key employees.”
VetMeasure joins several agtech startups including Performance Livestock Analytics, Nebullam, Gross-Wen Technologies, Smart Ag, FarmlandFinder, Tractor Zoom, automed, LEAH Labs, and ClearFlame Engines in the portfolio of companies in the Ag Startup Engine Fund. ASE aims to provide agricultural entrepreneurs a structured means of moving from a startup concept to investment-ready business.
“Kevin Maher brings tremendous experience in animal health to his latest venture,” commented Kevin Kimle, Co-Director of the Ag Startup Engine. “His relationships with veterinarians and animal health professionals will be valuable as he scales VetMeasure and we look forward to his continued contributions to the startup ecosystem in the ISU Research Park.”
VetMeasure will, in the future, move its technology platform to the dairy & beef sectors. Key health issues for calves include diarrhea, pneumonia and sepsis. VetMeasure’s technology will alert animal caretakers of a fever and other issues before they would typically be detected.
Over the next year, the ASE will add up to five more agriculture technology startups like VetMeasure to the portfolio ranging from animal health to precision agriculture.
The Ag Startup Engine was launched two and one-half years ago to help address two fundamental gaps that prevent agricultural startups and entrepreneurs from being more successful: early seed-stage investment and organized mentorship from successful entrepreneurs.
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