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Exclusive: Modern Animal, veterinary clinic network, raises $46 million Series D

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A shimmering golden retriever, Caleb, looks like Air Bud. He loves running on the beach, is called “California Caleb” on Instagram, and lives in West Los Angeles with his owner, Rich Cooper. Cooper stopped Steven Eidelman, founder and CEO of veterinary clinic network Modern Animal mid-walk. 

“You’re the Modern Animal guy, right?” Cooper asked Eidelman, who confirmed he is, in fact, The Modern Animal Guy. Eidelman’s not LA famous by any means, but he’s apparently LA-dog-owner-famous. And he wanted to tell Eidelman himself: He and Caleb, still warmly glistening on the ground, had been having a good experience. 

“That’s what we started the company to do,” said Eidelman, whose previous startup, Whistle, sold to Mars in 2016 for $119 million. “The only thing that matters is how you show up in every clinic.” 

Back in the Santa Monica clinic, as spaniels, doodles, and cats passed through, Eidelman and I talked in the waiting room, something possible only because the reception desks at Modern Animal are phoneless. As Eidelman points out: “If you get 100 to 200 phone calls a day as an average vet practice, how can you focus on the ten people in the lobby?”

In 2024, Modern Animal clocked 85% revenue growth year‑over‑year, reaching a $100 million run rate, the company said. Recently, Modern Animal raised $46 million in Series D funding, the company exclusively told Fortune. The round was led by Addition, Upfront Ventures, and True Ventures, with participation from Founders Fund. As the company’s been growing, Eidelman has been drawing inspiration from retail businesses, which seek to answer the same question that Modern Animal does: “How do you build an iconic brand business that ultimately lives in communities?” Retail’s a sector that Mark Suster, managing partner at Upfront Ventures, knows well. 

“Steven and [Modern Animal COO] Ashley [Peterson Siegler] understand four-wall economics, which is what retail is called,” said Suster. “They understand how to provide great service, how to build a brand, and how to have consistency… Being good at running a business matters, and they’re excellent.”

Technology—especially AI—is also central to Modern Animal’s trajectory. “We’ve been entirely growing organically,” said Eidelman, noting that tech’s been a key driver. Modern Animal has its own software platform (called “Claude,” no relation to Anthropic) and has deployed AI-powered tools geared towards vets’ workflows. The company’s growth has been deliberate, building on existing markets. (Modern Animal currently operates 27 clinics across California, Texas, and Colorado.) AI applications have been an iterative process, with trial and error. 

“To doctors, technology is a tool, just like a scalpel or a retractor is a tool,” said Keith Hackbarth, Modern Animal VP of engineering and the company’s first employee, via email. “If there’s any sense that quality of care could be compromised because of that tool, they will reject it.” 

What’s perhaps most compelling about Modern Animal—and veterinary businesses as a whole—is that they’re kaleidoscopic. Vet clinics are at “the front lines of the economy,” said Eidelman. It’s a private equity-filled industry sensitive to inflation, healthcare pressures, consumer expectations, labor dynamics, and sweeping demographic trends around pet ownership. 

In the end, Eidelman’s betting that the right mix of tech, people, and efficiency can help cut down vet burnout and ballooning vet bills, making people, pets, and vets healthier. “Most veterinarians are great,” he says. “It’s just that the system they operate in isn’t.”

See you tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkle
X:
@agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Venture Deals

SEON, an Austin, Texas-based fraud prevention and anti-money laundering compliance platform, raised $80 million in Series C funding. Sixth Street Growth led the round and was joined by IVP, Creandum, Firebolt, and others.

Remedio, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based cybersecurity company, raised $65 million in funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led the round and was joined by TLV Partners and Picture Capital.

GreenLite, a New York City-based developer of an AI-powered plan review and compliance platform for construction permits, raised $49.5 million in Series B funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Energize Capital and existing investors Craft Ventures, LiveOak Ventures, and Chicago Ventures.

Rodatherm, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based geothermal power generation company, raised $38 million in Series A funding. Evok Innovations led the round and was joined by TDK Ventures, Toyota Ventures, TechEnergy Ventures, MCJ, and others.

Terra Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based agentic AI-powered continuous penetration testing platform, raised $30 million in Series A funding. Felicis led the round and was joined by Dell Technology Capital and SVCI.

Doctronic, a New York City-based personalized AI doctor platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Union Square Ventures, Tusk Ventures, Mantis VC, Seven Stars, and angel investors.

Spara, a New York City-based enterprise-grade chat, email, and voice AI platform for go-to-market workflows, raised $15 million in seed funding. Radical Ventures and Inspired Capital led the round and were joined by XYZ Ventures, FJ Labs, Remarkable Ventures, and angel investors.

DianaHR, a San Francisco-based HR services platform for small and medium-sized businesses, raised $3.7 million in seed funding. SNR Ventures led the round and was joined by General Catalyst, Y Combinator, and others.

Private Equity

ATIS, a portfolio company of Thompson Street Capital Partners, acquired the U.S. elevator inspection business of Technical Inspection Agency, a North Las Vegas, Nev.-based elevator inspection company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Riverspan Partners acquired United Titanium, a Wooster, Ohio-based manufacturer of fasteners and precision components made from titanium, zirconium and other specialty metals. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Verlinvest acquired a majority stake in Boulders, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based chain of bouldering gyms. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Window Nation, backed by AEA, acquired NewSouth Window Solutions, a Tampa, Fla.-based impact-resistant window company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Funds + Funds Of Funds

Veritas Capital, a New York City-based private equity firm, raised $14.4 billion for their ninth fund focused on companies providing tech products and services to government and companies.

People

Cathay Innovation, a Paris, France-based venture capital firm, appointed Rose Yuan as a director and James Colgan as an operating partner. Previously, Yuan was with Generation Investment Management and Colgan was with Beyond the Build.ai

Menlo Ventures, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, promoted Deedy Das to partner.

QED Investors, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, promoted Victoria Zuo to partner.



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32-year-old’s death on Universal roller coaster was accidental despite deep forehead gash, investigation finds

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The death of a 32-year-old man after riding a high-speed roller coaster at the Universal Epic Universe theme park was accidental, and an investigation has been closed, according to a Florida sheriff’s office report released this week.

Meanwhile, a medical examiner’s report released Friday showed that the left side of Kevin Rodriguez Zavala’s forehead had a deep gash, and the bony ridge above his eye was fractured. He had bleeding above his skull, bruises on his abdomen and arms, and his nose and right thigh bone were fractured, the medical examiner’s report said.

The medical examiner in Orlando previously had ruled the death an accident, saying Zavala died of blunt-impact injuries. The investigative report by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando said that workers at Epic Universe followed procedures and weren’t careless or neglectful.

Epic Universe is the newest theme park at Universal Orlando Resort.

Security video showed Zavala “engaged and well” at the start of the ride but unresponsive and slouched over in his seat at the end, according to the sheriff’s office report.

When the ride came to a stop, Zavala was bleeding from the face, and his body was slumped over, according to witnesses.

Anna Marshall, a medical doctor who was standing in line to board the ride, said Zavala was slouched over and surrounded by blood when the coaster returned to the boarding platform. His arm was hanging over the ride, and his thigh bone was broken in half and resting on the back of the ride chair, she told investigators.

Zavala used a wheelchair. As Marshall rendered aid, Zavala’s girlfriend, Javiliz Cruz-Robles, who was beside him on the ride, told the doctor that he had metal rods in his back from a previous spinal surgery.

“Dr. Marshall explained that she did not believe that just because Kevin Rodriguez-Zavala didn’t have use of his legs that that was the sole reason why this occurred,” the report said.

Zavala’s family said the condition leading to his disability, which they described as spinal cord atrophy, didn’t cause his death on Sept. 17. The media office for attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Zavala’s family, didn’t return an emailed inquiry about the sheriff’s office report on Friday.

Zavala had severe facial trauma when the ride stopped. He was still secured in his ride seat by a lap bar, which ride operators had difficulty releasing for 10 minutes, Universal paramedic Sebastian Torres told sheriff’s office investigators.

“’The guest was stuck on the ride vehicle face down, falling out of his seat, with legs inverted,’” Torres wrote in a statement included in the report.

Cruz-Robles told investigators that a ride operator had to push Zavala’s lap restraint down several times before it was safely in place when they first got on the ride, and she thought the restraint bar was positioned too low on their laps. When the coaster began the first downward movement, she said Zavala flew forward and hit his head on the restraint bar. During the ride Zavala hit his head several times more, and Cruz-Robles said she tried but was unable to hold him back.

“Javiliz was crying for help, but due to being in the middle of the ride, no one heard her screaming for help until the train cart was getting close to the station,” the report said.

The sheriff’s office report noted there were warning signs posted at the ride’s entrance telling patrons about sudden drops and accelerations. The signs said guests shouldn’t go on the ride with certain conditions, including “back, neck or similar physical conditions,” or if they’ve had recent surgeries or conditions that could be aggravated by the ride.

Zavala’s parents told investigators that their son had previously fractured a thigh bone that required surgery in 2020 and had a hip dislocation that required surgery in 2010.

The dual-launch coaster reaches speeds up to 62 mph (100 kph) and debuted officially in May when Universal Orlando Resort’s newest theme park opened to the public.



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Michigan mystery revealed: Fired football coach had broken into a lover’s apartment and threatened to kill himself when their affair ended

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Fired University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore broke into the apartment of a woman with whom he had been having an affair and threatened to kill himself after she reported the relationship to the school and he lost his job, prosecutors said Friday.

Moore was charged with three crimes, including home invasion and stalking.

As he watched by video from jail, authorities laid out extraordinary allegations against Moore and provided details that answered a key question: What led Michigan to suddenly oust the 39-year-old coach Wednesday after his second season at the helm of the storied football program?

Moore and the woman had been having an affair “for a number of years” before she ended the relationship Monday, said Kati Rezmierski, Washtenaw County first assistant prosecutor.

Moore repeatedly called the woman and texted her, but she refused to respond, Rezmierski said.

“Eventually she presented herself to the University of Michigan. Cooperated in some form of an investigation. As we all now know (Moore) was fired from his employment,” the prosecutor said.

Moore was dismissed for an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, the school said Wednesday without offering details.

After losing his job, Moore soon arrived at the woman’s apartment and “barged his way” in, Rezmierski told a judge.

“Then proceeded to a kitchen drawer, grabbed several butter knives and a pair of kitchen scissors. And began to threaten his own life,” she said.

The prosecutor quoted Moore as telling the woman: “I’m going to kill myself. I’m going to make you watch. My blood is on your hands. You’ve ruined my life.”

“She was terrorized,” Rezmierski said.

A not-guilty plea was entered on Moore’s behalf by District Court Magistrate Odetalla Odetalla. He said very little besides acknowledging the conditions of his release from jail, including no contact with the woman. Bond was set at $25,000.

The court hearing was held just 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from Michigan Stadium where Moore, who is married and has three children, coached his last game against rival Ohio State in front of more than 100,000 fans on Nov. 29.

Defense attorney Joe Simon said Moore was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation after his arrest Wednesday and then returned to the jail.

He said Moore would “absolutely comply” with Odetalla’s order for an additional evaluation. Moore must wear a GPS tracking device, stay in Michigan and abstain from alcohol. The next court hearing was set for Jan. 22.

“There’s no evidence to suggest he’s a threat,” Simon said.

Moore signed a five-year contract with a base annual salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university will not have to buy out the remaining years of his contract because he was fired for cause.

Moore, the team’s former offensive coordinator, was promoted to lead the Wolverines after they won the national title. He succeeded Jim Harbaugh, who returned to the NFL to lead the Los Angeles Chargers.

Michigan is set to play No. 14 Texas on Dec. 31 in the Citrus Bowl. Biff Poggi, who filled in for Moore when he was suspended earlier this season in relation to a Harbaugh-era sign-stealing scandal, will serve as interim coach.

While the school seeks a new head coach, the Wolverines may lose players in the transfer portal this winter and donors who help fund revenue-sharing and NIL deals may hesitate to invest in the winningest program in college football history.

___

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org



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House Democrats release new Epstein photos including Trump, Clinton, Prince Andrew

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House Democrats released a selection of photos from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, including some of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew.

The 19 photos released by Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee were a small part of more than 95,000 they received from the estate of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The photos released Friday were separate from the case files that the Department of Justice is now under compulsion to release, but anticipation is growing as the Trump administration faces a deadline next week to produce the Epstein files that have been the source of conspiracy theories and speculation for years.

The photos were released without captions or context and included a black-and-white image of Trump alongside six women whose faces were blacked out.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, did not say whether any of the women in the photos was a victim of abuse, but he added, “Our commitment from day one has been to redact any photo, any information that could lead to any sort of harm to any of the victims.”

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson accused Democrats of “selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative” and called it part of a “Democrat hoax against President Trump.”

Many of the photos have already circulated in the public. Democrats pledged to continue to release photos in the days and weeks ahead, as they look to pressure Trump over his Republican administration’s earlier refusal to release documents in the Epstein probe. Garcia said that his staff had looked through about a quarter of the images it had received from Epstein’s estate, which included photos that were sent to him or that he had in his possession.

“Donald Trump right now needs to release the files to the American public so that the truth can come out and we can actually get some sense of justice for the survivors,” Garcia added.

Trump, once a close friend of Epstein, has said that he parted ways with him long before he faced the sex trafficking charges. Clinton, too, has minimized his relationship with Epstein, acknowledging that he traveled on Epstein’s private jet but saying through a spokesperson that he had no knowledge of the late financier’s crimes. Clinton also has never been accused of misconduct by Epstein’s known victims. However, Republicans on the House committee are pushing him and Hillary Clinton to testify in their investigation.

A spokesperson for the Republican-controlled committee also said that nothing in the documents the committee has received shows “any wrongdoing” by Trump.

Andrew lost his royal titles and privileges this year amid new revelations of his ties to Epstein, though he has denied wrongdoing.

The photo release also included images of the right-wing political operative Steven Bannon, billionaires Richard Branson and Bill Gates, filmmaker Woody Allen, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and law professor Alan Dershowitz. The men have denied any wrongdoing in their associations with Epstein, who kept many high-profile figures in his circle of friends.

Amid an earlier release of emails between Summers and Epstein, Summers stepped away from his teaching position at Harvard University and faced other fallout to his standing in academic circles.

Allen has faced allegations from his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, of molesting her as a child. He has denied the allegations.

Some lawmakers, however, believe that other high-powered figures could be implicated in Epstein’s abuse if the full case files from the Justice Department are released.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who was instrumental in passing a bill to require the public release of the files, said it was a good sign that the Department of Justice has sought to have grand jury material released from several courts.

“The grand jury material is just a small fraction of what the DOJ needs to release, because the FBI and DOJ probably has evidence that they chose not to take to the grand jury because the evidence they’re in possession of would implicate other people, not Epstein or Maxwell,” he said.



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