Munich Startup: What does Filu do? What problem are you solving?
Lena Naderer, co-founder and CVO of Filu: We are a next-gen and genuine feel-good veterinary practice where employees feel just as comfortable as animals and pet owners. We care equally about the wellbeing of pets, pet owners, and our veterinarians. Many veterinarians and veterinary medical assistants leave the profession for other careers because working conditions are poor.
As a result, the number of veterinary practices is stagnating or declining. And this despite the growing number of pets. For years, the number of practices has remained at around 10,000. The situation is even worse for animal clinics. Their numbers dropped from 297 (2009) to around 150 (2022). At the same time, Germany has more and more pets. Their numbers rose from 22.6 (2009) to 34.4 million (2022), an increase of over 50 percent.
With Filu, we want to address this shortfall, improve and modernize veterinary care and working conditions for veterinarians. Filu offers more creative freedom, better exchange, better work-life balance, regulated working hours, and above all a focus on physical and mental wellbeing and much more. We want to make the veterinary profession a dream career again.
Feel-good practices with comprehensive digital services
Munich Startup: But that already exists!
Lena Naderer: Unfortunately not. Of course there are veterinary practices, but our approach and idea are new, which is why we differ from traditional practices. A veterinary practice like Filu is completely different. But there are models in the US.
We differentiate ourselves by offering our employees attractive and above all healthy working conditions. We also want to establish our modern feel-good practices in all major cities across Germany and perhaps beyond. What’s innovative is not just the feel-good ambiance, the way we interact with each other, and the modern medical equipment – we also offer digital services and design practice operations smoothly and digitally. This provides benefits for our animal patients and their owners and relieves the burden on employees.
“We are united by our love for animals and the mission to think differently and innovatively”
Munich Startup: What’s your founding story?
Lena Naderer: My co-founder Christian Uwe Köhler (CEO) and I are from Munich, Justus Richard Buchen (COO) originally comes from Berlin. Justus and Christian have been friends since university. I met the two by chance and immediately realized we share the same vision. Together we can make a difference. We are united by our love for animals and the mission to think differently and innovatively for a positive impact.
We came together to build the leading platform for animal health. Our mission is to make veterinary practices more efficient through technology while maintaining quality of care.
Above all, we want to improve working conditions. This is particularly important to me personally. I myself am a veterinarian and turned my childhood dream into a career. But then I had to learn that the working conditions were not such that I could imagine spending my entire professional life as a veterinarian, which is why I switched to the pharmaceutical industry. With Filu, I’m now fulfilling my dream of a feel-good practice for animals, pet owners, and especially veterinarians.
Filu: Rethinking medicine with passion for animals
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Lena Naderer: Opening a practice involves a lot of paperwork. You need to find suitable premises and of course acquire many pieces of medical equipment, such as ultrasound and X-ray machines. We also place great importance on creating a pleasant practice environment. Many things need to work and be organized. In addition, the practice operations are running, and we’re thinking about that in a completely new and digital way. That’s a challenge. We also place great value on a team with the mindset of wanting to change things and reinvent the wheel together with us. We speak of Filuneers who rethink medicine with passion for animals.
Munich Startup: Where do you want to be in one year, where in five years?
Lena Naderer: In five years, we will be the leading platform for animal health in Germany. When people think of modern veterinary medicine, Filu should be the first association.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Lena Naderer: Munich is a great city and as a tech metropolis is well-suited as a startup location. But of course, there are areas where founding conditions could be improved. For example, through reducing bureaucracy. Through our investors, we also experience Munich very positively, as their network and events have allowed us to make valuable contacts and friendships that support us in this challenge.
Scaling across Germany
Munich Startup: Quick exit or long haul?
Lena Naderer: We want to grow – and we want to do it sustainably. You don’t build a nationwide practice network in a year. Besides, it’s a lot of fun seeing the changes we’re making. We definitely want to be part of these changes for a long time to come.
