Smartphone-based digital assistants for pet owners and a system to identify dogs via their nose prints are among the innovative start-up firms being given a cash injection by pet care company Purina as part of its latest Unleashed accelerator programme.
The company has announced the seven start-ups that will participate in the fourth edition of its annual programme, designed to support and propel the next generation of disruptive pet-tech and pet-care start-ups.
The winners will be supported for a period of 20 weeks by Purina and other industry experts, including a structured and funded project of up to CHF 50,000 (£44,000) to help start-ups achieve pre-determined KPIs and enable the owners meet their key business objectives.
The Unleashed 2023 winners comprise Petopy from Turkey, a digital assistant for pet parents that engages vets and pet owners with various services; S’more (Japan), which uses nose print identification technology to identify individual dogs and tie all data of the dog to their nose; Bookmypet (UAE), a digital platform that connects pet parents to local service providers; Dogami (France) and accessible mobile web3 game; Feelloo (France) a subscription-free connected medallion to help cat owners take care of their pet; LampoVet (Italy) a telemedicine portal providing specialist support for the nutritional management of chronic and recently onset diseases in cats and dogs; and VetChip (Australia), a smart animal health monitor which also performs all the functions of a standard identity microchip.
Kim Bill, head of the Purina Accelerator Lab, said: “Whilst competition this year was fierce, we are proud to be supporting these start-ups in their journey to disrupt the pet-care and pet-technology sectors, and help them achieve their business goals.
“Meeting consumer pain points has become increasingly harder across a saturated pet market, however we’ve seen some really robust products that are propelling Petcare into the future.
“Thank you to all of the talented business owners that entered this year’s programme.”
