Canine health startup gets $1.9 million treat

Dog health startup Elita has raised $1.9 million to expand its preventative care platform from genetic banking to launches a 24/7 veterinary telehealth service.

The round was backed by US VC Boost, plus locals Gandel Invest, Artesian’s Female Leaders Fund, Touch Ventures and M8 Ventures.

Elita is developing technology call Blueprint to track changes in a dog’s health over time using medical history, biological test results and information provided by owners.

The Victorian startup, founded in December 2024 by Paloma Newton and Jackson Gritching, will use the new capital to develop Blueprint360, an at-home biological testing product being built in-house and launching later this year.

It previously raised a $1.1m pre-Seed round in July 2025, which included investment from the Alice Anderson fund for female founders, to build a stem cell bank for Australian pets.

Now Elita has partnered with Australian veterinary telehealth company VetChat to offer 24/7 access to local vets, who’ll have access to the dog’s Blueprint history before a consultation.

Newton said the aim was to make preventative care more accessible as veterinary costs rise.

“The smarter move isn’t spending more once something’s gone wrong, it’s knowing what to do to stay ahead of it,” she said.

Boost VC founder Adam Draper said the fund backed Elita because of its work combining biological testing with preventative animal healthcare.

“We believe that Elita is about to give Dogs better standard of care than humans,” he said.

“They are at the forefront of the bio breakthroughs, and will enable dogs to live longer than ever.”