Vets First Choice raises $223M to fuel expansion

Photo / Tim Greenway Benjamin Shaw, founder and CEO of Vets First Choice. The Portland-based company, founded in 2010, announced today a $223 million strategic investment to accelerate growth as an online pharmacy and prescription-management provider for veterinarians and their pet-owner clients.

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By Staff

Vets First Choice, a Portland-based online pharmacy and prescription-management company for veterinarians and their pet-owner clients, announced today a $223 million strategic investment to accelerate growth, launch new innovative services and begin a global expansion effort into Europe and Asia.

Reuters reported that the equity infusion is the biggest in the history of the seven-year-old company. The London-based news agency quoted company co-founder and CEO Benjamin Shaw as saying the money could also be used to roll up smaller players in the fragmented veterinary services sector, boosting Vets First Choice's scale and customer relationships.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Hillhouse Capital Group led the investment, with participation from Viking Global Investors, Wellington Management Company, Rock Springs Capital and Sequoia Heritage.

A Clayton, Dubilier & Rice fund previously invested in Direct Vet Marketing Inc., doing business as Vets First Choice, in 2015, when the company raised $52.3 million, a record for Maine that year.

Betsy Atkins, founder of Baja LLC, and Terry McGuire, founder of Polaris Partners, have joined the Vets First Choice’s board of directors. A representative from Hillhouse will also join the board.

Scaling up for a global market

“Vets First Choice is creating powerful insight into gaps in patient care and helping to drive greater engagement and better health outcomes for our veterinary practice partners and their clients,” Shaw said in a news release. “This strategic investment will allow us to accelerate adoption of our proven platform and to support development of more advanced population health services on a global scale.”

His father, David Shaw, a co-founder and board chairman of Vets First Choice, added: “Today’s investment further supports Vets First Choice’s ability to create transformational value in helping veterinarians serve their patients better and build their practices more effectively.”

David Shaw is the founder of IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX), the Westbrook-based animal health diagnostics and IT solutions company, who later set up Black Point Group LLC in Portland as a vehicle to invest in other companies.

“We’re excited to work together with Vets First Choice on plans for international expansion,” said Lei Zhang, the founder of Hillhouse. “We are enthusiastic about helping veterinarians enhance the quality of care for pets globally.”

Vets First Choice, which has been hiring aggressively, provides technology solutions and support services to more than 20,000 veterinary practices partners. It was a runner-up in Mainebiz's 2015 Fastest Growing Companies list in the large company category. Benjamin Shaw also is a 2015 Mainebiz Next Award recipient in recognition of his success in building Vets First Choice into a $45 million company in just five years.