It makes sense that the pet health industry would undergo the same upheaval as the healthcare sector as it moves further into the digital era. Almost every element of a pet’s health can now be tracked by owners thanks to wearable technology and smart health monitoring platforms. Making the unseen visible through the use of smart pet technology allows us to better care for animals. By using technology to learn about pets, we can track their health over time, assess the effects of nutrition, and notice changes in their health, which can help us better understand the connections between nutrition and health.

Vismaya B N, Co-founder of Fond company has created Fluffit, a health monitoring tool for pet owners and vets. This pet’s smart pod captures the day’s activity and body temperature while comfortably resting on the pet’s collar. Strong plastic makes up the pod, which has a C-type charging port. Depending on usage, the pod can survive for 30 days after being charged. Through the Fond app, FlufFit provides the user with insightful health information and notifications about their pet. Both Android and iOS devices support the app.

Speaking to Petrons, she shared the journey of Fond founded by Pallavi G, Prarthana Bhat and Vismaya B N. All the 3 founding members are pet parents and were anxious about their pet’s well-being. They were engineering college mates studying at PES University. During the pandemic while discussing their concerns as pet parents they decided why not use technology to solve the problem. That is when they built their 1st prototype of the wearable as a part of their mini project. Their professor Dr Chandar sir was impressed with the solution and supported them to take it to the next level. That is when they decided to pitch this idea as a startup to PVL (PESU Venture Labs). They were able to raise pre-seed money from them.

“We worked on the idea for about 1.5 years. Since we are based out of Bangalore, we wanted to test the waters here in India. But we are committed to taking this global!” Vismaya shared.

The hurdles along the journey

People found it very interesting and see it as a ‘must to have’ device. They were getting amazing traction worldwide. Since pet healthcare lacks awareness and theirs is a new category in pet care they are investing a lot in marketing and awareness. Smart devices can provide pet owners with more convenience and better pet health care, however, there is still a lack of awareness of these devices. Pet owners need to be educated on their benefits and how they can be used to enable better care for their pets.

The team’s motivation behind developing the product

Being women entrepreneurs was more difficult than anticipated. Creating awareness about pet health care and the essentialism of their well-being has been tough, but the team believes they are getting there. Having cute fluffies as their customers, developing better tech for them, and doing all they can to serve them has been the best part. They work hard for those sloppy kisses.

Smart wears for pet health is becoming more and more popular. They are designed to help parents monitor their pet’s health and fitness levels. Smart wears can track a pet’s activity, monitor vital signs such as heart rate and even alert pet owners in the event of an emergency. Owners can use this technology to ensure their pet’s health is being monitored and to identify any potential health problems.

The future they want to see in the pet industry

“We see a massive increase in the population of pets throughout India. A lot of people are adopting animals and are choosing adopting pets over having children! So naturally, the pet industry is meant to boom in terms of new opportunities and market size as well,” Vismaya adds. 

The pet industry of the future would prioritise the health, safety, and well-being of all pets. It would focus on providing quality products and services that meet the changing needs of pet owners while focusing on sustainable and ethical practices.

She admits that the youngsters around them amazed the team. A lot of them love it. They find it interesting, novel and fun. The founders being in their early 20s understand what people in the similar age group look for and what they would love to see.

How Fond products works

“FlufFit- is our smart pet wearable (launched, selling at Rs.3000),  Foodie – is our smart food dispenser (yet to be launched) and the Fond App – has all the software features of both FlufFit and Foodie and this is how the smart ecosystem gets completed. Our friends and family were always by our side supporting us. Our engineering professor Dr Chandar sir is our greatest support till date to fulfil this dream,” Vismaya explains.

Learnings from the experience

They at Fond want to be the one-stop solution for all companion animals. Right now they have developed the tech for dogs, they want to expand the tech to all other companion animals. 

“Personally, entrepreneurship has taught me a lot. Being a student woman entrepreneur, building a new category for animals has been a very unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I have gotten to meet important union ministers, 1000+ beautiful doggo souls, amazing animal lovers, several other fellow entrepreneurs and many other subject matter experts who have kept me inspired throughout the journey” Vismaya says.

The critical element of Fond

Speaking to Petrons, Vismaya shares that the very fact that animals can’t communicate coupled with unavailability of information and timely care leads to the death of several pets globally, and losing a beloved family member to obesity, heart disease, diabetes etc is devastating. Out of the estimated 470 million pet dogs globally, over 59% of them fall prey to obesity and obesity-related diseases, and 1 out of 4 pets have a permanent disability. They see that there is a common anxiety among pet parents, wanting to have their pets correctly fed and safe. Fond is a personalised pet wellness company, that brings deep technology to pet care that provides health, and helps busy and caring pet parents with pet care. They are on a mission to increase the lifespan of pets by upto 6 months to a year. 

Conclusion

Wearable devices made for dogs are capable of more than just locating. Dog activity is observed, including exercise, as well as behaviours like licking, scratching, and water consumption. These data points are frequently shown through a smartphone app with an intuitive dashboard that, in certain circumstances, enables owners to compare accomplishments amongst dogs to determine which dog logs the most daily steps. 

Is your dog a little overweight and under -exercised? Do you want to know if your dog feels thirsty or is scratchier than usual? A deep dive into the health and happiness of their furry family members is now possible for pet owners thanks to such new activity-tracking pet technology that is comparable to human-made equipments. Wearable smartwatch technologies have been around for a while and are well-known to most of us. These gadgets allow us to track and monitor information about our own health, such as heart rate, activity level, and sleep. Pets may now use technology that is similar to it. Our pet’s movements, including their activity, sleep, and sleep quality, may be tracked with collar-worn wearable technology such as the product developed by Fond. 

You can know more about them by visiting their website: https://thefond.co/