Tailor-made diets, texts from your cat and a dog-sitting service: Meet Leap Venture Studio’s sixth cohort

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Fitbit for cats, veterinary clinics of the future, natural supplements for pets, and a dog borrowing service. 

These were among the seven companies that were part of Leap Venture Studio’s sixth cohort. 

The first startup-centric accelerator to bring innovation and grow the pet startup ecosystem, Leap Venture Studio recently held its virtual “demo day” to present another successful cohort of startups it has helped launch and grow. 

Founded as a partnership between the largest pet care organization in the world Mars Petcare and leading animal welfare organization Michelson Found Animals, and services platform R/GA networks, Leap Venture Studio is focused exclusively on investing in early-stage and seed-stage pet care companies. Since its inception in 2018, Leap has worked with more than 40 companies worldwide.

“This is our first regional program, these startups are taking care of specialized needs for pets and pet parents,” said Rachel Sheppard, Director of Ventures at Mars Petcare, welcoming the pet care startups in the EU and UK participating in its first regional program.

Here’s a glance at the seven startups:

• Moggie –  Did you know that cats are notoriously good at hiding illnesses, making it harder to detect and treat them on time? For that reason, UK-based startup Moggie invented the world’s first health monitor for cats that uses AI technology to translate your furry friend’s actions and behavior into human dialogue and understanding — all to improve cat health. An added bonus: you can get text messages from your kitty. 

•  Marleybones – Hemp, chia seeds, seaweeds and other superfoods, but for dogs. This London-based company wants to redefine fresh dog food by offering meals with the nutritional benefits of a home-cooked diet served in a convenient pantry- and planet-friendly packaging. An added bonus: Marleybones is the first dog food company in the world to become certified plastic neutral. 

• Rex – German startup Rex is committed to building and operating beautiful next-generation veterinary clinics providing pleasant customer experience, digitized processes and first-class veterinary care. Founded in 2021, Rex operates its own practices as well as a robust digital platform of pet products and services. Fun fact: Rex is named after “Kommissar Rex“, a 90s German police TV show about a K9 officer saving the world every week. 

• People Who Kaer – Another German startup makes natural supplements that are highly effective and address the most common health issues which dogs face throughout their life. An added bonus: The company’s supplements help with dogs’ joints, digestion and immune system. 

• BorrowMyDoggy –  This UK startup provides the much-needed and much-appreciated service of connecting dog owners with local trusted borrowers for walks, weekends and holidays. An added bonus: The community has more than 1 million members. 

• Petty Well – French startup Petty Well offers natural meals for pets, perfectly adapted to their needs, with a home delivery system, in the form of an ultra flexible subscription for both cats and dogs. An added bonus: A tailor-made nutritional meal at your doorstep.

• HiPets – Polish startup HiPets is a two sided marketplace for pet services, that helps pet professionals in time and resources planning for all upcoming visits and makes pet parents happier with petcare experience. An added bonus: mobile and web app that enables instant booking for all pet related services, including vet appointments and pet sitting.

Are you a seed-stage pet care startup interested in participating in the accelerator’s next edition? Apply to LVS’ next cohort by Dec 22, 2022, by filling out the application online with detailed information to participate in the 12-week program commencing in March 2023.