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Pet tech: An industry on the rise
1 February 2017

It is a well known fact that technology has become an integral part of people’s daily lives. Most of us have incorporated it as part of almost everything we do, whether it be checking in on a flight ticket or asking Siri about the way to the nearest coffee shop. Lately, many people have started to apply technology not only on their own lives but also on their pets', resulting in a significant rise of the pet tech industry. 

A recent study conducted by CB Insights shows that 2016 was a record year for financing to the pet tech industry in terms of both deals and dollars. Between 2012 and 2016, $486M was invested in this industry across 172 deals. Looking at 2016 specifically, as much as $154M was invested across 46 deals. Simply put, startups developing pet tech products are seeing growing interest from investors.

 

What is pet tech? 

CB Insights define the pet tech category as “companies whose core business is using tech-enabled solutions to serve the pet owner market”. This includes for example technology solutions for tracking, training and connectivity. 

Why such an increase in pet tech investments? 

Why has the pet tech area become so interesting from an investor perspective? We all know that people love their pets. And even more important (at least from an investor’s point of view) - people also love to spend money on their pets. 

According to APPA (American Pet Products Association, Inc.), as much as 65% of the US households own a pet, which amounts to almost 80 million homes. The same source estimated the 2016 US pet expenditure to exceed $62 billion dollars. And remember, this is just in the US. All over the world, pets have become an integral part of families. And as human populations grow, so do the pet populations, and of course the spending as well.

New applications and possibilities within pet tech

The fact that pet owners are on the continuous quest to try new methods of keeping their pets healthy and safe opens up for various new applications and solutions related to pet tech. Take the pet tracker as an example; this cutting edge technology enables the pet owner to pinpoint the pet’s position in real time. It thereby helps them keep track of their pets when they are out of sight, or find them if they get lost. By adding motion intelligence to this solution, not only can you see where the pet is, but also what it is doing. In other words, the pet owner can extract even more valuable information about the creatures they love.

Do you want to learn more about how motion intelligence can be added to pet trackers? Then read our use case!

(Sources: CB Insight, “New Breed: Pet Tech Is Seeing Investor Interest Take Off”, 2017, and APPA, "2015-2016 APPA National Pet Owners Survey", 2016).

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