
The finalists of Petcare Innovation Europe’s Best in Show Spotlight were announced last week ahead of the event taking place in Berlin, 3-4 May 2023. The Spotlight provides the opportunity to hear from the most exciting companies in the petcare space currently looking for investment or partnership across pet health, nutrition, and products and services.
In May, these 14 start-ups will pitch their innovations followed by questions from the esteemed judging panel to get to the in-depth details of their offering. The winners will then be selected and announced live at the event.
The finalists are:
Artemis – Artemis is skin and coat care for dogs co-created by dog parents, beauty experts, and veterinary dermatologists. Even though pet grooming products are not regulated as human cosmetics products, they follow the guidelines set by the E.U. to eliminate over 1,600 potentially harmful ingredients from our formulations. After all, pet grooming products touch your skin, your dog’s skin, and your home. Their R&D team works with a veterinary dermatologist to make sure their made-from-scratch formulations are safe and effective for dogs from the very beginning.
Barq/PharmaPet – They were previously a transactional business (one of the leading pet pharmacies in Europe). Today, they’re moving to a relational business – platform combining e-com and e-health with an app at the center. In this evolution, they are developing a lot of vet-related services like personalised health plans for your pet, digital pet classes, first line telehealth and personalised programs.
Bellylabs – Bellylabs is a privately-owned pet diagnostics company based in Helsinki, Finland. 2/3’s of the core team are long-time female dog breeders. Bellylabs Pregnancy Test For Dogs is the first ever dog pregnancy rapid test for home use. Bellylabs’ mission is to bring pet health and wellness testing to homes everywhere – improving the wellbeing of animals and supporting breeders and other pet owners in their work.
Caboodle – Caboodle creates an effortless experience with the best lifestyle-friendly food solutions for today’s dogs and their busy parents. Their portable, pre-portioned menus are easy when on the go, at work or when travelling with your dog. Their highly nutritious menus offer a variety of flavours to keep the fussiest of dogs excited and the recyclable and compostable packaging ensures they tread lightly on the planet.
CheckForPet – The ‘TripAdvisor for Pet Food’, CheckForPet use real petfood reviews (750k +), technical innovation and easy access to top-rated products in order to bring the right petfood directly to pet owners’ kitchens in the most convenient way (NPS: 71). With their 2 min. petfood check and the petfood sample boxes, we provide independent advice on site.
CompanionPass – Take your best friend with you, wherever you go. With a CompanionPass, your dog can come with you into shops and public places, and vendors can be confident that the animal will be safe and well behaved. Dogs complete a simple, quick behaviour test, which results in either a pass or fail. A pass results in the dog and owner being awarded with a CompanionPass, allowing them into partner shops and services for one year. A fail results in the dog being referred to further discounted training, and top tips about how to ensure that they are able to pass the test in the future.
Doderm – Doderm aspire to create a balanced ecosystem, to ensure a healthier world for our animals, our nature and the next generation. They use raw materials that are circular and rely on natural ingredients with anti-inflammatory properties thereby reducing the need for antibiotics. All of their products are made conform to human quality standards and the most stringent scientific criteria to ensure their safety and effectiveness.
JAMPY – JAMPY develops effective natural and plant-based products to support dogs’ health goals by offering functional snacks and supplements along with hygiene and care products.
MI:RNA – MI:RNA is a high traction, high growth, highly innovative diagnostic testing company with a strong first mover advantage in the microRNA biomarker space. Their novel testing platform has the capacity for diagnosis of progressive diseases at much earlier stages than current methods and we combine this cutting-edge science with AI modelling for extra precision. Owners can test at home and integrate lab work with telehealth veterinary services, relieving pressure on veterinary practices.
Purrmi – Purrmi make human-grade natural food for cats, delivered at home, and personalised through our online platform. They’re building an ML algorithm powered by their database to give a health report to the owner and recommend the best insurance plan with their recipes of human-grade cat food to prevent CKD and other diseases.
STRAYZ – STRAYZ is the first social pet food brand with a big mission to improve the lives of all 680M street cats & dogs worldwide. By selling premium organic pet food as well as fair fashion for animal lovers, they collect donations for international animal welfare organisations using the buy 1 give 1 model.
TEEF for Life – TEEF for Life is the companion animal brand of Primal Health, LLC, founded in 2020. Their products/formulations combine the fundamentals of microbiology and molecular nutrition to promote dental health in a safer, revolutionary way. The microbiome friendly foundational science includes plant-derived ingredients that are clinically proven to improve the oral microbiome, naturally.
Vitactic/Petsie – Vitactic is developing a unique, smart and effective pet toothbrush (called Petsie), which will help that quality time and friendship between pet lovers and their companions last as long as possible. Their unique value proposition is based on the innovative use of electrolytic technology to create a dental hygiene solution that cleans dogs’ teeth effectively, and promotes overall oral health.
WagIt – WagIt makes life for dog owners (and as a result their dog!) enriched, simple, and stress-free. Because when our dogs are happy, we’re happy too. More than that, WagIt will change the way dogs are accepted in society. Think Tripadvisor meets Mumsnet for dogs.
Petcare Innovation Europe will be taking place in Berlin on 3-4 May 2023. The event focuses on showcasing the latest innovations across Europe to drive partnerships and investment within petcare. To register, click here.