Pet adoption app Only Rescues was named the winner of the Pet Industry Federation (PIF) Innovation Award 2026 at this year’s Business of Pets Conference.
The award celebrates innovation within the pet sector and this year attracted 14 finalists, pitching their innovation live to conference delegates over the course of the two-day event. Only Rescues secured the highest overall score from delegates, who assessed each finalist on innovation, market potential and overall impact. Tara Hamdi, the app’s founder, presented a pitch at the conference which explained how it acts as a central platform matching prospective owners with rescue cats and dogs from rescue homes across the country.
In second place was the DigDrum, a digging enrichment device from Petosu, and in third was HayPigs’ Build Your Own Guinea Pig Village.
Held at the Cranfield University Management Development Centre last week, the conference heard expert insight from NielsenIQ on UK pet spending trends, PwC on consumer sentiment and spending outlooks, the UK Small Business Commissioner on tackling late payments and a range of speakers covering leadership, investment, recruitment, marketing, AI and cyber security. Headline sponsor of the event was Worldpay.
PIF chief executive Nigel Baker said: “The Innovation Award is always one of the highlights of the Business of Pets Conference and provides a glimpse into the future of our sector and recognising businesses that are developing exciting solutions to real-world challenges.
“Congratulations to our winner and to all the finalists who delivered pitches during the conference, and demonstrated the innovation, passion and ambition that continue to drive the pet industry forward.”
