Frisiani raises $25 million to overhaul vet clinics with AI operating system

Nicolò Frisiani, Co-Founder and CEO of Lupa, is spearheading a radical shift in how veterinary medicine operates. While most veterinary clinics still rely on fragmented, 1980s-era software, Lupa has successfully raised over $25 million from heavy hitters like Singular and First Minute Capital to build what Frisiani calls the world's first enterprise-ready AI operating system for vets. The mission is simple but massive: replace the seven to nine disconnected SaaS tools currently clogging clinic workflows with a unified, intelligent platform that automates the mundane and unlocks massive new revenue streams for practitioners.

From consumer failure to the enterprise wedge

The road to a $25 million war chest wasn't a straight line. Lupa initially launched as a consumer-facing mobile app designed to help pet owners book appointments. However, the team quickly realized that the veterinary market was suffering from a supply-side crisis, not a demand problem. Post-COVID, vet clinics were overwhelmed with patients; they didn't need more bookings, they needed time.

Frisiani and his co-founders pivoted away from the "app for pet owners" model toward a deep-stack operating system. To get their foot in the door, they identified AI-powered note-taking as their "wedge" product. By automating clinical documentation—the most tedious part of a vet’s day—Lupa created an immediate value proposition that allowed them to later upsell the entire holistic system. This strategy highlights a core tenet of modern vertical SaaS: solve the immediate pain point first to earn the right to manage the entire enterprise.

Scaling the private equity gauntlet

A significant portion of the veterinary market has shifted toward consolidation, with Private Equity firms rolling up individual practices into massive groups. This creates a dual-layer sales challenge. Lupa must win over the end-users—vets and receptionists—while simultaneously pitching the "enterprise value" to the Private Equity boards.

Frisiani argues that legacy systems are architecturally incapable of serving these large groups because their data is siloed at the individual clinic level. Lupa flipped this architecture, placing the database at the enterprise level. This allows Private Equity owners to see real-time analytics across thousands of sites and partition data as they see fit. It’s no longer just a tool for the vet; it’s a strategic data asset for the investor.

The three phases of Lupa's roadmap

Frisiani’s vision extends far beyond just organizing a clinic's schedule. He sees a three-phase evolution for Lupa. Phase one is the current focus: solving the technology debt and automating manual operations. Phase two involves building the infrastructure to help vets monetize pet owners more broadly, including insurance referrals, food delivery, and home prescriptions.

Phase three is the most ambitious: building a global data infrastructure for medical research. Because veterinary data is not subject to GDPR, it represents an untapped frontier for AI-driven medical innovation. By cleaning and anonymizing this data, Lupa aims to provide the foundation for pharmaceutical research and advanced diagnostics that are currently hindered by "messy" data structures.

Momentum as a strategic resource

Lupa notably raised two funding rounds in very quick succession, a move Frisiani defends as capitalizing on momentum rather than reacting to a need for cash. In the fast-moving world of AI and vertical SaaS, speed is a moat. By securing resources ahead of the curve, Lupa can aggressively pursue international expansion and product development without being throttled by the typical constraints of a startup's burn rate.

The consultant’s edge and the sales gap

Drawing on their background at Boston Consulting Group, the founders lean heavily on operational rigor and a high bar for output excellence. Frisiani notes that while consulting teaches mental rigor and hard work, it fails to teach the most critical skill for a founder: sales. Whether pitching to Singular or convincing a receptionist to change their 20-year-old workflow, every aspect of building Lupa has been a lesson in the art of the pitch.