Partnerships Turn Pawp Into Distribution Layer
Marc Atiyeh, CEO of Pawp, on building telehealth for pets
Partnerships turn Pawp from a subscription app into a distribution layer for pet care. Instead of paying to acquire each pet owner one by one, Pawp can plug into larger membership and benefits channels that already have trust, traffic, and recurring billing. That matters because Pawp makes its money on membership, uses pharmacy mainly to add value, and wants digital care to be the front door that steers owners toward the right next step, whether that is advice, medication, or an in person visit.
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The clearest example is Walmart+. Walmart added Pawp as a member benefit, giving Walmart+ users access to 24/7 pet telehealth through the Pawp app. This is exactly the kind of mass distribution model Pawp described, where a large consumer platform brings millions of potential pet owners at once instead of forcing Pawp to win each search click separately.
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This approach also fits Pawp's stated goal of being the digital care layer, not a company that owns 100 clinics. In the interview, the long term vision is to prove a hybrid model cheaply, then let a large vet chain or retail player replicate it at scale. Partnerships are the bridge between a lightweight digital product today and a much larger care footprint later.
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The contrast with clinic heavy players is important. Modern Animal grew to an estimated $100M annualized revenue in 2024 by operating 27 clinics, with about 88% of revenue coming from in clinic services and only 12% from membership. Pawp is trying to expand with far less fixed cost, which makes partner led distribution and bundled benefits more strategically important.
Going forward, the winning pet care platforms are likely to look less like standalone apps and more like embedded infrastructure inside retailers, employers, insurers, and clinic networks. If Pawp keeps landing partners, it can become the always on digital front door for pet owners, while others carry more of the cost of physical distribution.