VetoPhylum: natural remedies for cats and dogs

“I grew up in the countryside and I have always been close to nature. Becoming a vet was a natural career choice for me,” says Frank Lefay, a veterinary with thirty years of experience who created and launched the VetoPhylum brand in December 2019. “I have always had a keen interest in herbal medicine for animal well-being and over the years it became clear to me that this was the way forward. So, after a degree in phytotherapy at the University of Lyon I applied myself to create my own product.” 

VetoPhylum offers ten complementary foods for cats and dogs, such as arthro’phyl, cardio’phyl and dermato’phyl, each product offering a combination of plants and plant extracts for animal well-being. “Experiencing pain and discomfort is a challenging part of daily life especially for animals who can’t explain it as humans do. The most rewarding thing in this profession is to make them feel better. What I find interesting with our product and overall approach is that there are no side-effects compared to ordinary drugs.” The business is mainly B2B, selling to vets and pharmacists who then sell to their clients.

Starting up a business venture like this is never an easy task as Franck explains, “My wife, Sophie, and I did everything by ourselves. We managed the whole process from A-Z meaning the product formula, the packaging – for which we decided to use environmentally friendly material only – and finding representatives on the ground for product promotion. The sales part is what I found the most difficult: reaching out to clients to convince them and promoting the product... It’s been obviously easier to develop the scientific-technical aspects, find the right product formula and prepare it.”

An EU-guaranteed loan from Créa-sol backed by the EIF under the EU’s Investment Plan for Europe, was crucial in lifting off the ground: “It allowed us to find premises, set up the space, prepare the business brochures and the website, but also to create things like capsules and purchase boxes. Now, we have seven commercial reps on the ground who work on promoting VetoPhylum in France. But we are ambitious, so I don’t exclude going international in the future, should everything go well.”

Company: VetoPhylum (France)

Type of business: phytopharmaceutical

EIF financing: EaSI Guarantee Financial Instrument, EFSI

Financial intermediary: Créa-sol

For further information abiout EIF intermediaries in France, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/fr