Woofyz, a social network for dogs, wants pet owners to sniff each other

The global pet care market is a US$97 billion opportunity, with around 38 percent of that number holed up in the US. This much is confirmed by Depinder Singh, founder and “pack leader” of international online dog community Woofyz. You may be asking yourself: How can dogs login? They don’t have fingers to type nor the cognitive capacity to understand the internet. Don’t worry. You’re not crazy. The site is for their owners, and Depinder says the space is an attractive proposition for up and coming web entrepreneurs.

“Woofyz was an idea I had been trying not to do for some time now,” Depinder quips. “I talked myself out of it, and I talked myself into it. By April last year, I had finally made up my mind to give the Woofyz dream a chance […] and I set out to build something that I wished already existed.”

Depinder is an Indian entrepreneur who claims 17 years of experience in tech and telecoms. He’s worked in various corners of the internet, across several countries, including India, the US, Japan, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. He was part of the leadership teams at mobile and ecommerce provider DeNA, app development firm Zero-Sum Wireless Solutions, and international software company Lifetree Convergence.

Today, he’s out on his own, trying to capitalize on what so many are instinctively passionate about: their pets. He explains, Woofyz is a site for pooches, bringing together dog parents, NGOs, and canine businesses on one platform. Essentially, Woofyz is a social network and marketplace for dog owners.

See: Aiiooo is a social network for pets with an Asian flavor

A day in the virtual dog park

Woofyz has three key components. The first is a service layer that lets users manage pet related appointments, social or otherwise. The next is a veterinary function (which is something of an add-on to the appointment layer), in which the site manages outpatient service and walk-ins for vet practitioners. It lets them view patients and create prescriptions, which are then updated to the dog’s public profile on Woofyz. The third element is an ecommerce section, enabling dog-related businesses to sell online to the canine-crazy demographic.

In term of socializing on the site, users can build profiles for their dogs and connect with their breed globally. They can also filter by location and age of the pets. Users can ask questions to the community and meet other dogs in the neighborhood. Depinder says a big part of Woofyz is also geared toward sharing selfies taken with your beloved beast.

“The social backbone then gets extended to local businesses and a marketplace, where the users can search for their products and services […],” says Depinder. “It [will] include vets, groomers, trainers, kennels, [and] pet products.”

See: Chinese social network for pets raises $6M funding, reports 5M furry users

Indians harboring critters

Put the shoe down. Chew on this