Back in 1979, there was a super-cheesy TV commercial for Remington Shavers. The ad became famous for its catchphrase: “I was so impressed, I bought the company.”
The businessman behind it, Victor Kiam, got himself in a bit of trouble later, but that’s another story.
Anyway, we’re having our own little Remington Shavers moment at Virtual Vet Nurse. We liked our software platform so much, we bought the company!
After several years as a client of Ambit AI, we became the proud new owners of the company on May 1.
When we started developing Virtual Vet Nurse in 2020, we searched for the best available NLP platform.
Ambit AI ticked all our boxes. It was pioneering technology, created by clever tech entrepreneurs and homegrown in New Zealand (fun fact: the tech sector is now New Zealand’s second biggest export earner).
We liked the people at Ambit, and we liked the solution. The software was elegantly designed, and super-intuitive to use.
Which was fortunate, because we’d only just signed on as an Ambit client when the first Covid lockdowns hit. The Ambit team provided training sessions over zoom, and working from our kitchen tables, we learned how to use it.
Over time, we added our own IP of veterinary knowledge and conversations, integrations with practice management software, and advanced AI capabilities.
And a few years later, when Ambit came up for sale, we knew we wanted to own it.
For any technology company, particular those with SaaS products, it’s always desirable to ‘close the gap’ between the product and the platform. This blog delves into the reasons why.
We now own the software platform Virtual Vet Nurse is built on.
Our complete IP and tech stack is now in-house, apart from hosting services like AWS and OpenAI platforms. (And it’s safe to say we probably won’t be buying those!)
Owning the Ambit platform reduces external costs and third-party risks. And it gives us more freedom to design, innovate and deploy our customer-led solutions.
For Virtual Vet Nurse clients, it’s all upside.
If there’s something new or innovative they want their Virtual Vet Nurse to do, we can get started right away, with no additional supplier costs.
Under our ownership, the talented Ambit team will continue to service their long-standing clients in other sectors – which spans government, automotive, insurance, retail and finance.
Although this busy team won’t work directly on Virtual Vet Nurse, we’ll continue to share ideas and leverage their developers’ expertise.
So that’s our latest news! It’s exciting. But rest assured, we remain a small and agile team, providing the personalized service our clients have come to know.
The Virtual Vet Nurse team are responsive and receptive to our suggestions, even though we’re a small practice. This is by far our most rewarding partnership.”
– Owner of Nelson Bay Vet Clinic
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