Kuddly joins herd of veterinary apps with $1.5M seed round

First there were Vet24Seven and Vet on Demand, two apps that launched earlier this year promising to give pet owners round-the-clock access to veterinarians via their mobile phones. Now there's a new app in the neighborhood, Kuddly, which announced on November 19 that it has raised $1.5 million in seed funding from Exponential Partners to further develop its mobile offerings. Like its competitors, Kuddly offers pet owners the opportunity to chat with veterinarians via their smartphones in return for a fee. But Kuddly also has gamification features, such as opportunities for veterinarians in its network to earn "reputation points" based on how pet owners rate their interactions with them. The company, based in Newport Beach, CA, markets its app for iOS and Android devices, in addition to offering a web version. Release