Pet Care Innovation Awarded
Purina honors pet care startups from Boston to San Diego
Five pet care startups from across the U.S. have been selected as winners of the sixth annual Pet Care Innovation Prize powered by Purina. From a company giving dog breath a lasting mint aroma to a tool that helps pets communicate better with humans, the 2022 class of Pet Care Innovation Prize winners represents some of the latest and greatest products and service startups in the estimated $109 billion* pet care industry.
The 2022 Pet Care Innovation Prize Winners are:
Bright Planet Pet: Bloomington, Minnesota-based Bright Planet Pet makes 100% plant-based dog treats that taste and smell like real meat. Made from sustainable and all-natural ingredients, Bright Planet treats create up to 90% less carbon emissions and use 68% less water than comparable meat-based treats. For every bag sold, Bright Planet makes a donation to plant one tree.
FluentPet: San Diego, California-based FluentPet, Inc. is the company behind the FluentPet HexTile System — a way to combine recordable sound buttons and connecting HexTiles that enables dogs, cats and other animals to express themselves and be understood by humans. Developed in close collaboration with an active user community, FluentPet uses cognitive science and academic research to make teaching, learning and communicating easier for pets and their people.
Paway: Los Angeles, California-based Paway is a social network just for dogs, available on iOS & Android. Members can create a social profile to meet local dog parents, keep track of their dog's health and find dog-friendly places. In addition, Paway sells premium software (PawayPro) to pet care professionals to help manage, grow and promote their business without paying premiums to third-party apps.
QSM Diagnostics: Boston, Massachusetts-based QSM Diagnostics is fundamentally changing how bacterial infections are diagnosed and treated. The company's patented technology allows veterinarians to diagnose and monitor bacterial infections in dogs and cats using disposable sensors for point of care infection detection and monitoring. No software is required to run a test, and results are available in two minutes after a sample is collected.
uPetsia: Oro Valley, Arizona-based uPetsia solves the problem of bad dog breath by modifying natural canine oral bacteria to produce mint aromas. These bacteria can be incorporated into treats and food and fed to dogs, giving them mint breath for several hours, unlike traditional treats or toothpastes with mint flavor added, which only last for minutes.
More than 120 companies from 75 cities globally applied for the 2022 Pet Care Innovation Prize. Each of the five startup winners will receive a $10,000 mentorship from the Pet Care Innovation team and participate in a virtual accelerator boot camp featuring pet experts from across Purina and the pet care industry.
During a culminating pitch competition in March, the five winners will get the chance to present their businesses to an audience of industry influencers and investors, and a grand prize winner will be chosen at Global Pet Expo to receive an additional $10,000 in cash.
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*American Pet Products Association