NAVC names 2021 VMX Startup Pet Pitch Competition winner

Shawn Wilkie, Talkatoo CEO, presenting at the 2021 VMX Startup Pet Pitch Competition. (Photo courtesy of NAVC).

The North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) recently announced the winner of its 2021 Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) Pet Pitch Competition.

This annual event, also known as NAVC's Shark Tank, provides companies the unique opportunity to showcase their products, services, and solutions to thousands of veterinary professionals and practice decision-makers. All competition participants were selected from a competitive pool of 20 startup companies, all of which exhibited their products in the VMX Startup Circle.

This year's winner, Talkatoo, is a desktop dictation solution designed to increase workflow by using speech-to-text technology capabilities with specialized vocabularies. Talkatoo, which is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers, speeds up the transcription of clinical records, enabling veterinarians to spend less time writing and more time engaging with their patients and clients.

“We found Talkatoo to be an invaluable resource to the veterinary community,” says Paige Allen, MS, RVT, NAVC board president and 1 of the 5 judges, in the release.

“One of our biggest challenges as veterinary professionals is time. With Talkatoo, we can spend less time taking notes, doing paperwork, and being on the computer, and better utilize our time to care for our patients and interact with our clients,” she adds.

According to the release, Talkatoo shined amongst the competition, beating out 3 other startup companies that pitched new products in front of a live judging panel. As the winner, Talkatoo was awarded a complimentary exhibitor booth at the Veterinary Innovation Summit in Kansas City and admittance to an invitation-only event, Purina’s annual Innovation Summit held in St. Louis, Missouri.

“We’ve won the VMX Startup Pet Pitch Competition at the largest veterinary conference in the world. It’s a big deal!” says Shawn Wilkie, Talkatoo CEO, in the release. “This is our industry, these are our people, and now a lot more of them are going to know about Talkatoo and what we can provide them.”

The NAVC has welcomed over 100 startup companies and rewarded over $100K in monetary prizes thanks to industry sponsors who have supported this competition.

To learn more about VMX's 2021 Pet Pitch Competition, go here.