Pisoro, has become 115 veterinary
Loneliness is one of the crises of our time. The complexities of today’s world, along with the advancement of technology, have indeed made life easier for us, but at the same time, it has increased anxiety and mental tension in us, and we have less opportunity to socialize with others, and these interactions are less likely with the spread of Covid-19. was also
Caring for animals, although it is not a substitute for human relationships, but by increasing the sense of responsibility and improving the symptoms of depression, it can be considered as one of the effective ways to establish peace in a person’s life, but this care comes with challenges.
Which animal are we more suitable to take care of? How to take care of it well or suppose that in the village where we live, our cow gave birth at night, what are the necessary measures and how to contact the best veterinarians?
Pisoro answers these questions.
Please first let that with the team “Pisoro“ let’s get acquainted
My name is Ahmad Nowrozi, a senior expert in software engineering who, after several failed startup experiences in the field of tourism, together with my brother, who is a veterinarian, launched “Pisoro”. In addition to us, the Pisoro team consists of a product designer who studied in the field of industrial design, and two other people are software engineers who are responsible for Android, front and back of our site.
What is Pisoro?
Pisoro is a specialized platform for education, health, counseling and maintenance of animals that does not have a therapeutic aspect and is more useful in emergency situations. We do not have a therapeutic role; We only give information and solutions to our users so that they can access a clinic and veterinarian if needed, or we act in the role of prevention; Before the animal gets sick.
What made you decide to launch it?
When we were children, we had a Dutch bride and we faced problems in maintaining it; For example, we didn’t know how to build a nest for him or why a chick doesn’t hatch from its egg, etc., and no matter how much we searched in different books or on the Internet, we didn’t get a clear result.
Two years ago, we realized that, contrary to expectations, despite the progress of the Internet, our old problems are still problems for many. These challenges are far more serious in the village; It is possible that bovine tuberculosis occurs and all the cows are destroyed. Or that in some cases, the cost of treating animals is very high, and when the animal gets sick, it is possible that the disease is quickly transmitted to humans and The health of a society is endangered.
What does the name “Pisoro” mean?
Pisoro consists of two words; “Piso” which means dolphin in the local dialect of Bushehri and “Soro” which is derived from Sorna-Iranian chieftain.
Dolphin is an animal that establishes a very good relationship between humans and other animals; For example, if a person falls in the ocean and a shark attacks him, a dolphin will surround him and defend him. We were inspired by the movie Zeus and Roxanne.
Soro also includes animal specialists from veterinarians to workers, animal experts, trainers and even animal groomers. We call each of them Surna; Because they cause an animal to be treated better or the living conditions of animals to improve.
Is it necessary to have a veterinary education to establish such a startup?
It is not necessary; Although being a veterinarian, it will help a lot to get to know the current conditions of veterinary medicine in the country and network within this society (from professors to colleagues).
How long did it take you to get to the initial version of the app?
We have a Pirou version and a Suro version that our Pirou app has come out and it took a year and a half to prepare. Our current version is derived from the word “followers” and refers to the target community of animal owners or keepers, within which they can learn, have reminders, or communicate with veterinarians and other animal owners.
We also hope that the next version – Suro – which is the version for veterinarians and with which they can communicate with animal owners and other members of the veterinary community, will be released in two months.
How many people have used your service?
Since the last two months of 2019, we have started to take our activities seriously and we have recently been able to reach the first page of Google search results in the SEO keyword “online vet consultation”.
So far, 1000 people have visited through the chat site and we have had 600-700 downloads of the application, which we hope to reach more than 1000 downloads by presenting the second version.
Is there a culture of using such a platform for animals in Iran?
At first, due to the level of facilities and urban culture, we targeted apartment pets (dogs, cats, and birds) in Tehran, but we encountered many questions on our site about cows, goats, and geese, which are usually from remote villages. was raised They needed advice on whether they can do outpatient treatment for their animals or should go to the nearest clinic, and since we have the entire list of veterinarians in the program, we would guide them on how to treat themselves. take to a veterinarian; In fact, Pisoro has turned into 115 veterinary clinics.
Please tell us about the story of Amirkabir’s acceptance and activity in the Samsung Accelerator.
Before Corona, we were planning to settle somewhere to take our activities more seriously and we had visits to various accelerators until we got to know Samsung Amirkabir Technology Center, which is active in the field of health and, in line with social responsibility, has a stake in He does not receive for his services.
In June 2019, among 860 participating teams and after three days of competition, we entered this accelerator as one of the 6 selected teams and we are still based in Samsung.
What features of Pisoro were noticed by the judges?
All accelerators and investors pay attention to the team first and then to the idea, and the impact of the idea is great but less than the team, and our team is made up of capable people with relevant education. Also, Pisoro’s innovativeness and having an early version that demonstrated our process, and the fact that Samsung did not have a team in the field of veterinary health, were among the reasons for our acceptance at Samsung.
What facilities does Samsung provide you?
In addition to the very good shared workspace that they provide, they provide financial credit and you can get the cost of the server. The suggested mentors and their training in the areas of investment, human resources, etc., are very useful and there are very good officials working there.
What were the most important challenges you faced?
In our field of activity, we do not have a startup in Iran and this newness has made it difficult to build trust, which is our most important problem. Also, introducing our services to all clinics, specialists and keepers of domestic and non-domestic animals and placing the issue that we are not competitors of clinics and animal specialists, but rather a platform that connects veterinarians and animal specialists to each other and to animal keepers. , is our other challenge.
Do Pisoro services reduce the income of clinic veterinarians?
No, we have even developed programs that can increase their income; For example, the veterinary pharmacy is largely unknown and people, due to lack of knowledge, prepare human medicines instead of animal medicines, which we can make a better sale of these medicines by introducing and promoting them.
Veterinary startups in Iran are limited; What do you know the reason for that?
On both sides, from the investor to the veterinarian, there is a fear of starting such a business, and also, there is no accurate knowledge of the veterinary market and they see it as limited to a specific area. Some veterinarians do not know or are resistant to providing online medical services. There is a weak startup culture in this sector; For some, teamwork is difficult, and some retreat after the first failure that happens to all startups.
But the field of veterinary health is progressing little by little and due to its steep slope, we will have more startups in the next three years.
How do you evaluate the impact of the corona pandemic on your process?
both good and bad, but overall it had a positive effect on our process; Because the culture of using online services, before Corona, was limited to Snap and Digikala, but with the virtualization of education, most people have smartphones and the culture of using applications is ingrained.
Even some of our customers are children who ask questions about the care of their turtle or Dutch bride.
Pisoro, how does it make money?
Currently, our income generation is from the right channel of consulting commission and we also have advertisements to some extent.
How do you build trust with the pet owner?
Trust building is formed little by little and it is very difficult in the field of health. You have no right to make a mistake in the field of health and you must always do the right thing, and this is not necessarily possible with advertising.
Therefore, we try to do our job well to build trust. For example, we had a visitor who started by asking chicken-related questions to confirm our information, and then shared with us his main questions about cockatoos.
We also believe in word-of-mouth marketing that in the next version, veterinarians can recommend us to animal owners and as a result, we will have more customers.
Have you managed to attract capital yet?
We have had suggestions, but not yet. In fact, we are waiting for news in the coming months and for now we are holding back to attract foreign capital.
What vision do you have for the development of Pisoro?
Our vision is to become a leading network in innovation and technology in the maintenance, education and health of the animal community, and for people to know that whatever problem they have about animals, there is a forum to ask their questions and trust.
And one of our concerns and demands is that many capable and skilled veterinarians have migrated outside of Iran and we hope to be able to return their services and use their experiences and learnings to solve domestic problems. .
Do you have any advice for veterinary students interested in starting their own business?
They do not limit themselves to traditional veterinary businesses and have a more open vision to make more progress. In fact, in addition to traditional businesses such as clinics, they should also be aware of trending issues.
In Iran, we have medical engineering, but veterinary engineering, no, while outside the country, designs have been made for dogs and cats, or the use of artificial intelligence in medicine, which has recently received attention, is also a great answer for veterinary medicine. Gives.
