This startup makes meds your pet will actually want to eat

Written by Katie Fustich
Published on Jun. 21, 2019
This startup makes meds your pet will actually want to eat
Mixlab
image via mixlab

If you’ve ever been in the position of giving medication to a pet, you know that it’s rarely easy. Weird flavors, textures (and an utter lack of chicken) tend not to please, after all.

“No one wants to force-feed their pets,” said Mixlab CEO Fred Dijols. “Adapting the dosage, like cutting a pill into eights or giving multiple pills at a time, can also be very difficult.”

Dijols co-founded Mixlab with the hope that there’s a way to make medication time easier for pets and their parents. Dijols brings with him a M.S. from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

His co-founders, CXO Stella Kim and Director of Pharmacy Vinnie Dam bring equally well-seasoned credentials to the project. With Kim holding a degree from NYU and experience at firms like IBM, and Dam’s background including a USC degree and years of practical pharmaceutical experience.

In 2017, the trio behind Mixlab began creating compound medications that address a pet’s health needs, while also accounting for flavor and ease of ingestion.

We tailor the dosage, the flavor and the form for a specific pet under a prescription by a veterinarian.”

“We tailor the dosage, the flavor and the form for a specific pet under a prescription by a veterinarian,” Dijols told Built In. “This process of getting meds tailored by pharmacies can be quite frustrating at a time of distress: taking upwards of a week, with back and forth calls, lack of transparency and delays.”

Mixlab instead handcrafts the medication in their laboratory before quickly shipping it to your home. This model recently earned Mixlab $8.5 million in seed money from a handful of international investors.

“We’re using the funds to fuel growth in the Northeast, obtain additional licenses and roll out labs nationwide,” Dijols explained. “We want to offer our high level of convenience and service throughout the country.”

In addition, Mixlab will be expanding its NYC-based team. Dijols predicts “many new team members” in operations, sales, marketing, engineering and more.

Currently, the company operates out of its headquarters on West 37th Street.

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