Pets are beloved members of the family, and caring for them is a significant responsibility that requires a lot of time and effort. Fortunately, many notable startup companies exist to support pet owners and help maintain their pets’ quality of life.
We’ve researched and found exceptional pet startup companies that are producing innovative pet products and services. Here are 20 of the most notable pet startups with creative and useful concepts that will benefit many pet owners.
The 21 Pet Startups
1. Hepper
Year founded: | 2007 |
Service type: | Innovative pet products and blog |
Hepper sells modern pet furniture, supplies, and grooming products for cats, and their pet shampoos are also for dogs. Their cat beds have unique designs and are designed to be cozier for cats, while their Nom Nom cat bowl helps to contain spills from water and food and has a whisker-friendly design. Their pet shampoos are all hypoallergenic and free from sulfates, parabens, and dyes, so they’re safer for your pet’s skin.
Hepper’s blog also has thousands of articles about caring for cats, dogs, and other pets, whether you’re looking for care guides, best product recommendations, or vet-reviewed and fact-checked articles. You can also find some general interest pieces about cat owners’ lives with their cats. Hepper is a one-stop shop for all things cat (and some things dog, too.)
2. PetLibro
Year founded: | 2019 |
Service type: | Innovative pet products |
PetLibro creates smart pet products that make caring for your pet’s health and well-being easy and convenient. Their line of pet fountains is designed for cats and dogs, and they have filtration systems to promote safe drinking. Some of the fountains have more advanced features that can track your pet’s drinking habits and ensure they’re staying hydrated.
PetLibro also makes smart feeders for both dry and wet food. These feeders have timers that release food at specific times of day. You can also connect them to an app to better monitor your pet’s food intake.
3. FluentPet
Year founded: | 2020 |
Service type: | DTC pet accessory |
Pet communication has become more popular over recent years, and you can find many tutorials for training pets to communicate using buttons. FluentPet creates cat and dog communication buttons designed to help pets learn how to use the buttons faster. They use HexTiles to organize buttons and help pets locate them more easily.
The buttons are recordable so that you can use your own voice. They also come with distinguishable stickers to help pets memorize and recognize them.
4. Supertails
Year founded: | 2021 |
Service type: | Health and telehealth |
Supertails is an online direct-to-consumer pet shop for cats, dogs, and small pets. You can find all kinds of supplies, including toys, beds, grooming tools, and dog-walking equipment. They also sell pet medication, supplements, prescription diets, and other wellness products.
Supertails was designed to make shopping for pets easy and convenient. 24-hour delivery is available in select cities, and you can also find new lightning deals on various products and popular brands.
5. Basepaws
Year founded: | 2017 |
Service type: | Pet DNA test kits |
Basepaws creates at-home DNA test kits for cats and dogs. Their goal is to create easy-to-use screening tools for health risks and early recognition of certain health conditions.
Basepaws has several different testing kits that are designed to identify your pet’s breed ancestry and potential health risks. All you have to do is swab your pet’s mouth and send your samples to Basepaws’ lab. Results are available within 4 to 6 weeks.
6. Pettable
Year founded: | 2020 |
Service type: | ESA letter services |
Pettable is a support service for emotional support animals (ESAs). Unlike service animals, ESAs aren’t protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). So, people can face more challenges in finding housing that allows ESAs.
Pettable addresses these needs by giving people access to ESA letters that they can submit to their landlords to validate pets living in their rental units. All customers have to do is complete a short assessment and meet with a verified therapist. Once a therapist approves their need for an ESA, an ESA letter will be drafted and sent within 24 to 48 hours.
As psychiatric service dogs are protected under the ADA, Pettable also offers training courses for psychiatric service dogs. The courses cover basic obedience, travel training, and psychiatric disability support training.
7. The Farmer’s Dog
Year founded: | 2014 |
Service type: | Subscription fresh dog food |
The Farmer’s Dog is a dog food company that ships fresh, human-grade dog food straight to your dog. They have several different recipes that all use high-quality, natural ingredients, and they’re suitable for dogs of all ages and breeds. Some of the recipes are also safe for dogs with food allergies.
The Farmer’s Dog delivers food through a subscription service. Once you sign up to receive The Farmer’s Dog’s food, you will begin to receive auto-shipments.
8. Smalls Cat Food
Year founded: | 2017 |
Service type: | Subscription cat food |
The team of cat experts and cat lovers that run Smalls Cat Food have developed fresh cat food that’s made with all-natural, nutritious ingredients. Each recipe contains at least 80% animal protein, and they use a single source of animal protein, making them safe for cats with allergies. Many of the recipes also have versions with different textures, including shredded, minced, and pate.
Smalls Cat Food runs on a subscription-based model and ships cat food directly to your doorstep.
9. Tractive
Year founded: | 2012 |
Service type: | Pet GPS |
Tractive creates smart collars for cats and dogs. The collars have GPS trackers on them, and you can see your pet’s real-time location through their app. They also have activity monitoring that tracks your pet’s exercise and sleeping patterns. The collars gather data over time, and they can send health alerts for when your dog might be feeling pain.
Tractive’s collars use a built-in SIM card. They offer different subscription plans that provide worldwide coverage and live tracking updates every 2 to 3 seconds.
10. Mammaly
Year founded: | 2020 |
Service type: | Dog supplements |
Mammaly is a dog health and wellness company based in Berlin, Germany. Their goal is to promote healthy aging by creating high-quality dog supplements that also pass picky eaters’ taste tests. Mammaly produces multi-supplements as well as supplements that target specific health issues, including sensitive stomachs, joint health, and anxiety. They also prioritize using sustainable practices and have a B-Corp certification.
Mammaly currently ships to several European countries, but they have to expand to shipping to more countries. Considering how young the company is, it’s likely to continue seeing sizable growth and expansion in the next several years.
11. Vetevo
Year founded: | 2018 |
Service type: | At-home pet health care |
Vetevo is another Germany-based company that specializes in pet health care. They provide a personalized pet care experience for pet owners and produce a variety of at-home testing kits for cats, dogs, and horses. Some of the tests that Vetevo has created are DNA tests, allergy tests, urine tests, and worm tests.
Vetevo also prioritizes fast results for their tests. DNA and allergy test results are available within 3 weeks, while worm test results are available within 12 hours.
12. PETKIT
Year founded: | 2013 |
Service type: | Cat supplies |
PETKIT is a startup that creates wearable technology and smart cat furniture. They’re well-known for their cat backpacks, which have built-in fans and multiple air vents to ensure cats stay comfortable while traveling inside them.
PETKIT also makes self-cleaning litter boxes, grooming supplies, and automatic feeders. Most of their products are connected to the PETKIT app. The app enables you to monitor the condition of the products and track your cat’s health information.
13. Bugalugs
Year founded: | 2020 |
Service type: | Grooming and health care |
Bugalugs is a pet grooming supply start-up based in England. They create cruelty-free pet grooming products that also meet human-grade standards. Bugalugs has an extensive line of dog grooming supplies and is most known for their shampoos. The shampoos all have vegan formulas and are pH-balanced.
While it’s not as large as the dog grooming products, Bugalugs does have a line of cat products. They create shampoos, brushes, supplements, and other health and wellness products for cats.
14. Nom Nom
Year founded: | 2015 |
Service type: | Subscription fresh dog food |
Nom Nom is a subscription fresh dog food company. Their recipes are formulated by board-certified veterinary nutritionists and contain all natural ingredients. Every batch of food is made in USA kitchens and is gently cooked for easy digestion and maximum nutrient retention. They undergo rigorous quality assurance tests to ensure they’re completely safe for dogs to eat.
Nom Nom’s most popular products are their dog food, but they also create probiotic supplements and natural dog treats. These add-ons can be included with Nom Nom’s monthly shipments of dog food.
15. Pawp
Year founded: | 2019 |
Service type: | Telehealth |
Pawp is a pet telehealth startup that connects their customers to licensed veterinarians. Their services run on a subscription-based model, and users have 24/7 access to a veterinarian. Pawp also creates pet profiles and personalized care plans that promote health and wellness.
While Pawp can’t replace in-person vet appointments, they offer highly accessible supportive care for pet owners. Pawp’s goal is to create a continuous care model that supports a pet’s long-term health.
16. Butternut Box
Year founded: | 2016 |
Service type: | Subscription dog food |
Butternut Box is a subscription dog food company that delivers fresh dog food to their customers’ doors. Compared to many other subscription dog food startups, Butternut Box has a bigger selection of dog food recipes, including a vegetarian dish. Most of their recipes use a single source of animal protein, and they have different flavors to appease to picky eaters.
Butternut Box has also expanded their product line to treats and supplements. You can include items like fish oil, broths, and dental sticks to your subscription order, which makes shopping for your dog’s diet and nutrition needs much faster and more convenient.
17. Digitail
Year founded: | 2016 |
Service type: | Veterinary clinic software |
Digitail is a widely used veterinary clinic software. It’s designed to make managing and operating a vet clinic easy and convenient so that vets can focus their time and energy on their patients.
Digitail offers packages for both brick-and-mortar vet clinics and mobile clinics. They have a robust scheduling system and can help intake and patient check-in processes run smoothly and efficiently. The software can also follow up with pet parents to ensure their pets are receiving the right type of care at home and that they can easily schedule follow-up appointments.
18. Maxbone
Year founded: | 2016 |
Service type: | Dog clothes and accessories |
Maxbone is the ideal dog clothing business for fashionistas. They create unique and fashionable dog clothes and accessories, and they also have a line of fun and functional dog-walking gear.
Most of Maxbone’s products are dog clothes, but they also create other pet essentials, including dog treats, beds, and travel accessories. Maxbone’s goal is to develop high-quality pet supplies that are beautiful, practical, and sustainable.
19. Embark
Year founded: | 2015 |
Service type: | Pet DNA testing |
Embark is a startup that creates dog DNA testing kits. They currently have tests for genetic health, age, gut health, breed ID, and oral health. Embark also aims to support dog breeders by providing reliable dog DNA tests that detect health risks and traits and predict litter outcomes.
Embark’s founders, Ryan and Adam Boyko, are passionate about canine health. They’ve traveled the world to swab dogs and gather dog DNA samples. They also promote research and periodically add surveys for their users to complete so that they can gather data and maintain an updated database.
20. Bella & Duke
Year founded: | 2017 |
Service type: | Raw pet food |
Bella & Duke’s goal is to provide highly nutritious food to dogs and cats and prevent health risks attributed to poor health and nutrition. They also aim to meet the needs of pet owners searching for safe, high-quality raw dog food.
All of Bella & Duke’s recipes are human-grade and made with the freshest ingredients sourced from vetted suppliers. They offer recipes for all life stages, and each batch of food is prepared with methods that retain the ingredients’ nutritional value.
21. Pawpass
Year founded: | 2023 |
Service type: | Pet travel |
Pawpass is a new startup that was created to make international pet travel easier. While they’re still in their early stages, the beta version of the Pawpass app already has several strong features. It enables users to have easy access to their dog’s medical records. It contains a vet-approved trip planner and the latest information on travel regulations. Pawpass will also locate dog-friendly establishments, including hotels, restaurants, and attractions that you and your dog can visit together.
Conclusion
Pet startups are usually founded by pet owners or animal lovers, so they often produce innovative products and services that pet owners will actually use. The great thing about pet startups is that there’s room for significant growth, and these amazing companies are likely to look extremely different over the next few years. We’re excited to follow them and see how they’ll continue to improve and expand their products and services to benefit pet owners around the world.
Featured Image Credit: nakaridore, Freepik