Small Door: Florent Peyre reinvents the veterinarian in New York

Bright and clean interior, light wood with a few plants here and there: when you enter the premises of Small Door in Greenwich Village, you feel like you are tumbling into a spa or yoga studio. It is, in reality, a new kind of veterinary practice.

Small Door, the name that evokes the cat flap (small door in the door used by cats), is the baby of two happy owners of doggies, the American Josh Guttman and the French Florent Peyre. Their bet: revolutionize the world of the veterinary practice by applying the membership model, which has developed in other medical sectors. "We see this concept applied in human medicine and in dentistry in particular. We thought it was amazing that there was nothing in the veterinary community, explains Florent Peyre. There has been a lot of investment in the past few years in animal feed and services but nothing in health, while clinics are profitable, veterinarians are not paid very well and the market is very dynamic and resists recessions. In view of these interesting indicators, we thought that there was something to do".

The two men met in 2009. Florent Peyre was then in charge of development at Hachette Filipacchi Media in New York and Josh Guttman worked for the advertising platform Outbrain. Their paths crossed again after he joined the investment bank SoftBank Capital. Le Parisien repeatedly pitched him the start-up he had co-founded in 2012, Placemeter. The latter, which had developed a technology to analyze video flows in various fields (transport, urban display, etc.), was bought by the American Netgear in 2016.

"After the takeover, I wondered what I was going to do“Admits Florent Peyre. At the same time, his future partner and friend went from clinic to clinic to treat his sick dog. "He would incur very high expenses. When we compared the amount of the expense and the quality of the service provided, there was a disconnection". The duo then begins to think about how to shake up this market “very fragmented, where 15% of the 30,000 existing clinics are owned by large groups, including Nestlé (under the Purina pet food brand) and Petco". Their conclusion: “to capture all the value and offer an innovative experience, a chain had to be created. When you look at Starbucks, they don't have a license. They all have their cafes".

In addition to allowing Small Door to better control its revenue streams, the membership model “creates friction at the entrance“:“we are not made for everyone, continues the Frenchman. We want to have members who understand the value of preventive medicine, who feel invested in animal health". Indeed, Small Door, which is aimed at “parents" dogs and cats only, does not provide emergency care. Walk-in visits are accepted, but customers must become members for their pet to receive care.

More transparent invoices, personalized service, in-depth medical examinations: Small Door is betting on a superior quality of service to stand out from the competition. Positioning pleases. The start-up raised $ 3.5 million in seed in April from Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Primary Venture Partners in particular. The founders surrounded themselves with leaders of companies in the forefront of their field (Warby Parker glasses, Sweetgreen salad bars, CityMD emergency medical services, etc.). They also looked after their recruitment. The Experience Manager led the opening of new WeWork co-working offices and Soulcycle gyms before joining Small Door.

After their first cabinet in Greenwich Village in late 2019, the founders plan to open in east Manhattan in 2020. They want to focus on the cities first. "The next four-five will be in New York, Hoboken or Philadelphia“, Specifies Florent Peyre. But "we don't want to go too fast. We are obsessed with the goal of offering a consistent service, without ups and downs from one address to another".