Transfur Launches with the Backing of Varsity Venture Studio to Address the Complexities of Veterinary Referrals

October 12  

Using artificial intelligence for a clinically efficient experience, Transfur harmonizes the process between primary and specialty veterinarians. 

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — October 5, 2021 — Transfur (https://www.transfur.vet), a comprehensive referral management platform for the vet industry, announced its public launch today. The company has received funding from Varsity Venture Studio, a venture studio collaboration between the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and High Alpha Innovation. Transfur will be headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a member of The Medical Alley Association (MAA). 

Transfur makes it easy for veterinarians to request, send, manage and review medical records. As a business-to-business software-as-a-service (B2B SaaS) offering, the company brings a new level of innovation and efficiency to the vet space. 

Transfur is led by co-founder and CEO Scott Brown, an accomplished entrepreneur and technology executive who has spent over 25 years in leadership positions, primarily focused on healthcare software. Brown, a winner and two-time finalist at Minnesota Technology Association’s Tekne Awards, most recently served as Chief Technology

Officer at Revealix, a computer vision and artificial intelligence platform to prevent diabetic limb complications. 

Co-founding sisters Anne and Ali Pankowski submitted the initial concept for Transfur to Varsity Venture Studio. They have experienced the challenges of referral management firsthand growing up around their family’s veterinary practice and now as Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of California, Davis, respectively. The Pankowskis will continue their work on Transfur as Advisors. 

“With Transfur, we have a phenomenal opportunity to shift the paradigm with veterinary specialists who want to spend less non-billable time requesting and reviewing medical records in preparation for evaluation visits,” said Brown. “I’m thrilled to hit the ground running with Anne, Ali and the team at Varsity Venture Studio to fundamentally improve the way clinical data is reviewed at a time and in a market that we believe is perfect for innovation.” 

“With Anne and Ali’s clinical expertise and real world experience, we developed strong conviction to launch this company,” adds Elliott Parker. “The Pankowski sisters have spent their lives in this world, and the complementary addition of Scott to lead Transfur gives us the expertise and experience to successfully execute on this innovative new approach to clinical records.” 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the $32B veterinary market experienced an unexpected strain on veterinary practices, primarily due to a sharp increase in demand for veterinary services. As a result, veterinarians are looking for ways to be more efficient and effectively utilize their staff — outcomes that Transfur aims to deliver in spite of the lack of interoperability, integrations and standards within veterinary medicine today. 

“With today’s launch of Transfur, we’re delivering on Varsity Venture Studio’s promise to turn our community’s brightest ideas into funded software businesses,” says Erik Iverson, CEO of WARF. “I couldn’t be more excited to see what Scott and team are going to accomplish from here.” 

About Varsity Venture Studio 

Varsity Venture Studio, a University of Wisconsin-Madison-wide venture studio, turns ideas into funded software businesses. Varsity Venture Studio is a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

(WARF) and High Alpha Innovation, and is the first university venture studio of its kind. Learn more about Varsity Venture Studio at varsityventurestudio.com. 

About High Alpha Innovation 

High Alpha Innovation is an Indianapolis-based venture studio that partners with corporations and universities. Its dedicated team of company builders, strategists, and designers apply a proven venture studio playbook — pioneered by High Alpha — to help the world’s leading organizations innovate through systematic startup creation. Learn more about High Alpha Innovation at highalphainno.com. 

About Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) 

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) helps steward the cycle of research, discovery, commercialization and investment for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Founded in 1925 as an independent, nonprofit foundation, WARF manages more than 2,000 patents and an investment portfolio as it funds university research, obtains patents for campus discoveries and licenses inventions to industry. For more information, visit warf.org.] 

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