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Krystal Chia · · 4 min readStartup which helps owners find lost pets going global by 2017
When Ivan Loh’s two Labrador retrievers ran away from home two years ago, he “couldn’t eat and sleep.”
While he found his dogs after two weeks, Ivan wanted to prevent a repeat of this “traumatic” episode. He started developing a NFC (Near-field communication) and QR code-enabled pet badge that was launched in March this year.
Ivan Loh, 37, with his 11-year-old Labrador retriever, Dawn. Ivan is the founder of Pet Widget, an NFC and QR code-enabled dog tag that helps reunite lost pets with owners.
By scanning a QR code shown on the badge, one can obtain the owner’s contact details, the pet’s allergies and medication needs. Alternatively, the badge shows an alphanumeric code that can be entered on Pet Widget’s website.
Next steps in expansion
With about 1,000 badges sold in Singapore, Ivan’s team of five is now aiming to stock the item in pet shops in North America, Europe, and Australia by April next year.
We hope to be in as many countries as possible, but we’re taking it step by step.
“We’re currently talking to government agencies and pet retailers in these regions,” said Ivan, 37, who is also chief executive of Bugis Street Online, an online store for a popular local shopping street.
“We hope to be in as many countries as possible, but we’re taking it step by step,” he said.
“In the U.S., for example, we are starting with California as pet ownership is high. We will start with strategic partnerships for market entry and then potentially set up regional offices in key markets.”
According to the National Council of Pet Population Study and Policy and the National Humane Society in the U.S., a family pet is lost every two seconds and over 10 million pets are lost annually in the country.
The bootstrapped startup is also exploring grant options with International Enterprise Singapore, a government agency that helps Singapore companies go global. Ivan has invested an estimated US$72,000 of his own in Pet Widget so far.
Additional feature
Apart from the badge, which retails at US$18.13, another key feature of Pet Widget is its free app that can be linked with the badge to trace its last scanned locations. It also allows users to review pet-related businesses such as pet cafes and interact with one another.
Pet Widget’s badge is linked to its free app, where users can find reviews of pet-related businesses and interact with one another.
Future challenges
Challenges that Ivan foresees in expansion include government legislation and understanding the pet cultures of different countries.
Peace of mind of pet owners
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