Unleashed by Purina, a global pet tech startup accelerator powered by the Purina Accelerator Lab, is hosting on November 27 in Singapore its first-ever meetup for pet tech startups from Asia, Oceania, and Africa (AOA).
Through the Unleashed Pet Tech Meetup, Purina Accelerator Lab’s parent company, Nestlé Purina PetCare AOA, aims to spotlight the region’s immense potential and create a supportive ecosystem for startups. With Asia Pacific’s pet care market ranking third globally, the region is at the forefront of innovative solutions, ranging from online retail platforms for pet food to at-home pet healthcare services.
e27 spoke with Kim Bill, Head of Purina Accelerator Lab, to learn more about the AOA region’s pet tech market.
Excerpts:
According to a Euromonitor International report, AOA’s pet care market is forecast to reach US$29 billion by the end of this year. How do you see pet tech contributing to this growth?
Accurate data is pretty hard to come by, but I believe that most of the pet care market is still in the pet nutrition vertical, which includes main meals, supplements and treats.
Pet tech is becoming increasingly sophisticated, with maturing technologies progressively being adopted by pet parents who would like to take better care of their pets, especially in terms of health. Examples include IoT devices, collars, litter boxes, vet telemedicine, and marketplaces.
Also Read: How telemedicine can revolutionise the veterinary world?
This number probably does not include the pet service segment of the Asian pet market, which raked in an estimated US$41.4 billion in 2020 and was predominantly led by mobile grooming services—that’s more revenue than pet food.
AI, computer vision, and sustainability are emerging trends. Which areas do you believe hold the most transformative potential for pet care?
All innovations are important. Climate change is a pressing global problem, and as the global leader in pet food, we have the responsibility to do our part. We have invested heavily in sourcing more sustainable practices for our operations, factories, resource use, regenerative agriculture, and, of course, packaging.
Machine learning, AI, and computer vision are all emerging technologies that are being harnessed not only on our factory floors, but we are discovering how startups are using these technologies to solve pet owners’ pain points.
Pets cannot talk and tell us if they are in pain or not feeling well. These technologies can give them a voice and help pet owners understand their pets’ conditions through easily accessible apps that provide alerts. They can also help vets in their daily work, helping them to be more efficient and reducing their very high-stress levels.
In a statement, you mentioned the increasing sophistication of AI-powered solutions in the accelerator programme. Can you share specific examples of AI innovations that have stood out?
I’ll provide two examples.
Animoscope, an alumnus of the 2021 batch, develops science-based algorithms to deliver virtual veterinary care. Its services cover remote triage and consultation, preventive medicine and nutrition services. We have incorporated their symptom checker on our Purina France website and will extend this to other countries.
Kim Bill, Head of Purina Accelerator Lab
VetChip, from the 2023 cohort, is a smart implantable biosensor animal health monitoring system designed to enable animals to live healthier, happier, and longer lives. VetChip supercharges existing microchips to work just like a Fitbit under the skin, providing animal owners and vets with continuous real-time health insights and alerts, such as temperature, respiration, and heart rate.
How do you think startups in the AOA region differ from those in other regions in terms of their focus or approach to pet care innovation?
Asia pet industry has a few distinct features:
- Pet owners are often first-time pet owners with younger pets.
- Pet owners are tech-savvy and often digital natives.
- Pet ownership is increasing, and owners are willing to spend on their pets.
- The caloric coverage is still very low in many parts of AOA (i.e. pet owners feed balanced and complete meals to their pets that are bought from pet food manufacturers. Many pet owners cook for their pets or feed them from their kitchen).
- Startups are very tech-savvy, particularly in countries like South Korea and China.
Since its inception, how has the Unleashed Accelerator Lab evolved in fostering innovation in pet tech?
We have accelerated 33 startups from all over the world and organised talks (to inspire and impart knowledge to thousands of founders), Pet Tech Meetups in Linz, Paris, Stockholm and now in Singapore. We also sponsor an Unleashed Pet Tech newsletter/ podcast, among many other activities. We also have a Pet Tech Founders Community of about 900 members.
Also Read: Pawprints extends seed round to expand its allergy-friendly pet nutrition biz
We aim to inform, inspire, and facilitate networking and to build the pet tech community of startups and investors. About 45 per cent of our alumni raised funds after graduation. We continue to collaborate with 60 per cent of the alumni at least a year after graduation and have invited three startups to continue in the Unleashed Business Incubator after graduation.
Are there any plans to expand the Unleashed Pet Tech Meetup to other regions?
This is our 4th Pet Tech Meetup. We’ve organised them mainly in Europe- in Linz, Austria, Paris, France, Stockholm, Sweden, and now in Singapore. Our meetups have been welcomed and well-loved because this is a big gap that we are filling. There is a huge demand, and we are proud to be the pioneers in building the pet tech community of startups and investors. We hope that in doing so, we will be able to bring more solutions to pets and their owners to make their parenthood journey enjoyable and seamless.
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Image Credit: 123RF.
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