Startup 101: 5 Pet Startups for the Indian Pet Lover
The ethos by which all pet parents and lovers swear is that the love pets are capable of far exceeds our human capabilities. Faithful and affectionate, our pets often serve as our closest companions, our rock when times are tough. The reverence for pets is not new to the world. Ancient Egyptians held cats sacred, and many contemporary societies raised pets as a status symbol.
Cut to the present, India has seen an exponential boom in pet parenting and pet care. Expected to reach INR 5457 crore by 2025, with a CAGR of 20%, the Indian pet care market is an industry blazing with opportunities. Thanks to urbanization and increased disposable income in middle-class households, there has been a rapid increase in pet food and care offerings.
Where there is potential, astute Indian entrepreneurs aren’t far behind. Several Indian pet startups have emerged in the Indian market, offering pet care and comfort. Here are a few startups that have charmed pet parents:
Petdom
A pet adoption platform, Petdom has made its mission to find a caring and deserving home for all pets in India. By leveraging technology, this pet startup brings pets from individuals owners, animal shelters, and NGOs all under one digital roof, making their discovery and adoption a hassle-free process.
The genesis of Petdom came when founder Abhinav Tyagi went on Google to find information on the pet he wanted to adopt. He found nothing. There existed no complete pet adoption platform, except for scant informal groups on Facebook and OLX. This incident spurred him towards building Petdom in September 2015 along with co-Founders Udit Agarwal and Neha Khandelwal.
The Delhi-based pet discovery platform doesn’t sell pets but promotes animal adoption. Even current pet parents looking to find new homes for their loved pet can use Petdom to find suitable families and individuals. They have a verification process and a binding agreement that the pet adopters have to sign. Petdom also helps both the pet and its new family adapt to each other.
CollarFolk
For most of us, the time before vacations is one of anticipation and fervent packing. But for pet parents, it’s often filled with anxiety as they have to leave their pets behind.
Here comes CollarFolk to the rescue! Founder and fellow pet parent Rukmini Vaish founded this startup for similar worried pet parents who hate to leave their pets behind and would love for their pets to come along. CollarFolk is a pet startup offering accessible travel solutions for pet owners.
It helps people plan pet-friendly vacations with its unique database of pet-friendly hotels, resorts, and homestays across the country. CollarFolk also enables you to find suitable grooming and boarding services for your pets, along with pet-friendly travel and cab services. Not just this, Collarfolk also helps you with planning experiences like nature trails, camping, treks, and kayaking for your pets- after all, your pet is also on vacation!
DoggieTheApp
There are pet owners, and then there are us who wonder if we can be good pet parents. Mumbai-based DoggieTheApp offers a solution to this existential problem through its home-boarding feature. The startup lets aspiring pet parents experiment if they can look after pets for a short time.
“The biggest problem in today’s pet industry is the number of people who get a pet and then don’t know how to handle them,” says founder Amit Verma.
Registered as Chien Technologies, they also connect pet service providers with pet parents.DoggieTheApp was also the official partner for the Hollywood film A Dog’s Journey (2019) in India. Currently, it has over 7,000 pets on board, and more than 350 pet parents are paying customers.
Wiggles
A recent entrant in the pet care market and rather an illustrious one, Wiggles was founded in 2018 by Anushka Iyer and her father, Rajh Iyer. The startup’s instant pet sanitizer, a necessity during the pandemic for pet parents, catapulted Anushka Iyer into the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia, Class of 2021, and as one of Silicon Asia’s 30 Best Business Leaders.
An online platform where pet owners can access healthcare information and services curated by renowned veterinarians, Wiggles also won the ‘Retail Startup of the Year Award’ by Entrepreneur magazine.
So far, Wiggles has raised $1 million in funding from angel investors. With its base of operations in Pune and Mumbai and soon to expand to Hyderabad and Udaipur, the pet startup is growing at 30% month-on-month. Wiggles aims to expand its operations pan India as it seeks to revolutionize the pet healthcare industry.
Pawffles
Animals require more sleep than us humans do. However, sleeping on an uncomfortable bed that doesn’t allow one to get their much-needed rest is bound to make both pet and parent cranky.
Founders Garima and her mother, Nisha Gupta, provide customized bedding for pets depending on their age and size. They also consider health concerns such as orthopedic beds that take off the pressure on joints in senior pets.
The ethos of Pawffles is to ensure the comfort of pets in daily life. The absence of quality and affordable products for pets led to the genesis of this homerun business in Nagpur. Apart from beds, Pawffles also sells pet car seat covers, floor mats, futons, and even bean bags.
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