Pet owners in Israel have had exclusive access to the digital pet insurance agency that offers premium health care coverage. After 5 successful years in the home market, the company branches out internationally.
Pet parents know that veterinary bills can get pricey if not prepared for in advance.
The unpredictability of pet health is nothing new for young entrepreneur Yoni Kiehl, whose four-legged roommate Porta, a beautiful French bulldog, inspired him to tap into his vast experience in the insurance business and offer solutions for pet emergencies. For Kiehl, pet insurance is something owners can plan for and benefit from when health issues arise.
His vision for a digital pet insurance agency started taking shape in 2016 in his home country of Israel. And the guiding concept was helping pet owners in a pet crisis and instructing the community on preventive measures to enhance the quality of life.
The revolutionary insurance concept contributed to the fast rise of Animalia pet insurance, and within a year, the company was the leading provider in the local market.
Many started questioning the rapid success in the Israeli market, to which Kiehl responded: “Creating ingenious relationships with veterinarians that perceived our company and the industry as a whole with distrust was the biggest challenge in our formative phase. Local vets were under the impression that our product could undermine veterinary health care standards. The solution we offered was a signed treaty proclaiming that our regulations get established on veterinary recommendations. Care-based and not cost-based was and continues to be the founding principle.”
Reports from the North American Pet Health Insurance Industry Association (NAPHIA) show that 3.45 million U.S. pets had health insurance coverage in 2020. That fact makes it obvious why the pet insurance industry last year had its sixth consecutive year of growth. And the horizon is still far away in this business field.
The large pet population in the U.S. signals opportunities for new players in the pet insurance market, and the low bars of entry are encouraging for Animalia pet insurance and its potential to capture a sizable chunk of the market.
