How I started my Smart Pet Collar business
Pet Business
India
21 Years
My name is Saiprasad Pandilwar and I’m 21 years old, based in India. I am working on my startup, MyPerro which I launched in October 2023.
MyPerro is a pet care startup that combines smart collar technology with a network of certified caregivers to provide real-time health monitoring and premium services like dog walking and boarding. Our smart collars track essential health vitals and GPS locations. We aim to give pet parents peace of mind by ensuring their dogs receive personalized attention and care, even when they're away.
What inspired you to start your own business?
My personal experience with a neglectful pet boarding service was a turning point for me. My dog, Muffin, was severely mistreated while in their care. I wanted to address this particular problem. I was part of the entrepreneurship cell in my college, which always ignited my ideas based on my passion for independence and the chance to impact my community while coming up with innovative ideas positively. So without much thinking, I made a team of people resonating with my idea from the same club, took some guidance from my seniors, did on-ground market research to know that the problem was real, and started my venture.
How did you go from idea to product? Take us through your process of starting and building your business.
The idea for MyPerro emerged from recognizing the challenges pet parents face in monitoring their pets’ health and well-being when away. We began with on-ground market research, talking to pet parents, veterinarians, and service providers to validate the problem. Once we had insights, we outlined the solution: a smart dog collar integrated with health monitoring, GPS tracking, and seamless app integration.
We are currently in the prototype stage, where hardware plays a pivotal role. As a student founder, building this technology from scratch has required significant time, effort, and resources.
We have completed three iterations of the prototype and are now working on the fourth.
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Our core product is a smart dog collar that tracks essential health vitals and GPS location, integrated with services like dog boarding and walking.
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Our go-to-market (GTM) strategy is to initially partner with existing dog boarding facilities and provide them with smart collars to solve key challenges in pet care.
How are you funding your startup?
MyPerro has been fortunate to secure the following grants:
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MeitY TIDE 2.0: ₹4,00,000 (approx $4800) from the Government of India.
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Student Startup Venture: ₹1,60,000 (approx $1800) from VIT Vellore.
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Also won multiple Hackathons and Competitions.
What are the lessons you have learned?
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Start Early: College is the best time to experiment and take risks. You have access to resources and fewer responsibilities.
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Build a good Team: Surround yourself with people who share the same passion and vision complement your skills and don't make a mistake while building a founding team. I made a huge mistake at the start here.
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Take Risks: The universe will reward you maximum if you take logical risks.
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Validate Your Idea: Talk to your potential customers to ensure your solution addresses a real problem.
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Iterate Constantly: Feedback is invaluable; embrace it and refine your product or service accordingly.
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Leverage Resources: Utilize college labs, professors, and peers to reduce costs and accelerate growth.
How did you grow your business? And get your first customers?
We are pre-revenue and at the prototype stage right now, but we have a pet lovers community of around 450 people. We conducted a pet feeding drive due to which we were able to find true pet lovers.
Our revenue strategy unfolds in two phases:
Phase 1 (Initial Revenue)
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Renting/subscribing smart dog collars to existing dog boardings and walkers.
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Generating a positive PR in the market.
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Collecting valuable numerical health data across various dog breeds for future product improvements.
Phase 2 (Expansion)
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Launching MyPerro-owned dog boarding services and standardizing existing boarding facilities
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Leveraging technology integration for B2C bookings for dog boarding and walking.
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Providing an essential tool for veterinarians to monitor canine health, creating additional subscription-based revenue streams.
We aim to launch in the market by September 2025, generating our initial revenue from the subscription/rental model.
What advice do you have for budding founders?
I don't know if I am currently at the stage to answer this question, but I have noticed that many people around me who are interested in startups and entrepreneurship tend to overthink starting out. Many say they don't have money—frankly speaking, in the beginning, you don't need money. If you build your credibility and face value, you can get grants.
Some say, "I'm a student; I’ll start once I have good experience in a job." But I believe college is the best time to start a startup because you have nothing to lose. Later, responsibilities might get in the way. At this age, no one really cares what you are doing—if you win even a small competition, you’ll be recognized in college. Now imagine becoming a well-known founder!
So, according to me, don’t overthink—just start! You’ll figure things out as challenges arise. The best part is that you can make full use of your college resources. You can hire students as interns who are happy with just a certificate to post on LinkedIn, get professors ready to help, and use labs and other facilities for free, hackathons/competitions to participate and there are many grants and schemes only for student founders.
Where can we find you?
Book Recommendations
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Zero to One by Peter Thiel
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Good to Great by Jim Collins
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How I Built This by Guy Raz
