Pre-seed · Opening · February 2026
ScanToProve · OPCLS
The Plaid for pet identity — federation rail across 40+ fragmented chip databases.
Raising: £250–400k pre-seed
Round structure: SAFE @ £3M cap
Use: 12-mo runway to 3 signed chip DBs + 1 insurer pilot
The problem. 40+ pet microchip databases globally. None talk to each other. Pets die in shelters because the right registry wasn't called. Vets waste 15-30 minutes per stray on phone-based lookups. DEFRA (UK) and EU AHL have both mandated interoperability by 2026. None of the registries have started building it.
The wedge. ScanToProve already ships NTAG424 NFC + QR + DNA + Polygon-anchored provenance for pets. We just shipped OPCLS — an open federation protocol (Apache-2.0) that lets every chip DB participate without giving up data, customers or brand. The reference implementation runs at scantoprove.com/registry with mock + live adapters anchoring on Polygon.
Why now. DEFRA's 2024 reforms become enforceable in 2026. The first 12 months of standard-setting determine the winner. Whoever signs the first 3 chip DBs becomes the default. We are 4-6 weeks ahead of any competitor at the protocol layer and 24 months ahead at the product layer (DNA + provenance + tag stack).
Business model. Diversified take-rate across 8 revenue rails — insurance auto-claim validation (UK pet insurance £1.6B/yr), boarding & daycare SaaS (£20-50/mo × 6,500 UK facilities), pharma anti-counterfeit (£3B global), DEFRA compliance contracts, premium reward-escrow on Polygon, white- label registry-as-a-service. Plaid template: never own the underlying asset, own the rail.
The ask. £250-400k pre-seed for 12 months runway. Closes the first 3 chip-DB partnerships, runs the first insurance pilot, secures DEFRA + BVA endorsement. Targets £1.5-2.5M seed at month 9-12 once 3 partners are live and ≥ £25k MRR is on the rail.
£1.6B
UK pet insurance market
£3B
Global pet-pharma counterfeit
12M+
UK pet population, +27% since 2019
2026
DEFRA interop mandate enforced
Defensible moats
- Live reference implementation + working demo
- Polygon-anchored audit trail (regulator-friendly)
- Founding-member 1% perpetuity lock-in for first 3 DBs
- DNA pipeline = top-of-funnel for new chip registrations
- Open standard → community network effects
12-month milestones
- 3 chip-DB partners signed (M3, M6, M9)
- 1 insurer pilot live, ≥10k validated claims/mo (M6)
- 1 pharma pilot signed, Bravecto or equivalent (M9)
- DEFRA + BVA endorsement letter (M10)
- £25k+ MRR on the rail (M12) → triggers seed round
Use of pre-seed funds (£350k base case)
| Bucket | £ | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Founder salary (12mo, 50% market) | £75k | Stay full-time on partnerships + product |
| Head of Partnerships (9 of 12mo) | £70k | Ex chip-DB / vet-software, closes the 3 founding partners |
| Contract dev (part-time) | £35k | Maintain platform + integrations |
| Legal · DPAs, IP, MSA templates | £25k | Repeatable contracts that don't choke deals |
| Conferences (BVA Live, LVS, DEFRA APPG) | £15k | Where chip DBs + regulators are met |
| PR + OPCLS standard launch | £20k | Trade press, journalist briefings, ICAR submission |
| Infrastructure (AWS / R2 / Mongo Atlas) | £12k | Production-grade hosting |
| Working capital & buffer (~25%) | £98k | Insurance pilot retainer, regulatory consultant |
| Total | £350k | 12-mo runway to seed round |
Investor return scenarios on £350k pre-seed @ £3M SAFE cap (~10.4% post-conversion)
| Scenario | Trigger | Exit valuation | Pre-seed multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor | 3 DBs live, 1 insurance pilot, acqui-hire | £8M | ≈ 2.4× |
| Base | 10 DBs, EU expansion, Series A complete | £40M | ≈ 12× |
| Upside | OPCLS becomes DEFRA-endorsed default, insurance + pharma at scale | £250M | ≈ 74× |
| Moonshot | Plaid-comparable infrastructure exit (10y horizon) | £1B+ | 200×+ |
Comparables: Plaid (2013 seed → $13.4B 2022 → exited at $25B+ in subsequent rounds); TruEra/Pet-tech sub-vertical exits typically 8-25× in 5-7 years.