Vetletics represents a very special opportunity for The Bloodhound Group to contribute to the birth of an animal healthcare brand. The company was born out of North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
The EQ Press is Vetletics’ flagship product scheduled for commercialization. The product provides retrograde pneumatic compression for horses for medical and athletic recovery.
Dynamic pneumatic compression is a therapeutic technique designed to accelerate recovery, improve circulation and promote better health. It has been used by NBA, NFL, and other championship teams to help improve recovery and optimize player performance time. EQ Press tailors this proven technology for equine athletes.
Dr. Irina Perdew, CEO and co-founder of Vetletics, Inc., selected BHG founder Jim Cobb to mentor the startup through the National Science Foundation I-Corp program. Cobb and other mentors from The Bloodhound Group will collaborate with Dr. Perdew and co-founders Dr. Matthew Breen and Dr. Lauren Schnabel on design of the customer and channel stakeholder research necessary to inform a successful brand launch.
The National Science Foundation training program at NC State is aimed at helping researchers transition their ideas and inventions into the marketplace through customer discovery and market research. Cobb has been a mentor in the I-Corp program since 2019. “I-Corp provides an excellent framework for validating new product concepts and developing business models that lead to successful commercialization,” he says. “At The Bloodhound Group we utilize a similar approach with our corporate clients. 
Our I-Corp participation helps us discover and incorporate new ideas and innovative ways of working.”
The patent pending EQ Press was invented through collaboration between Dr. Perdew, Dr. Schnabel and Mego Afek, the world’s leading manufacturer of human compression systems. Prototypes of the EQ Press are currently being used by leading veterinarians and key opinion leaders across the U.S. and Europe.
For more information about Vetletics, visit the website at vetletics.com.
Photos courtesy of Sasha Campbell.