However, there are concerns about the accuracy of the technology, with Petnow claiming its algorithms are “99% accurate” at identifying individual cats and dogs. The company is currently pre-revenue, with a $150,000-per-month burn rate, but anticipates a contract with Korean domestic and international pet insurers by October and pilots in France and a metropolitan government in Canada for their pet registries.
Key takeaways:
- Jesse Joonho Lim and Ken Daehyun Pak have launched an app, Petnow, which they claim can identify cats and dogs by scanning their faces. The app has raised $5.25 million in funding so far and is valued at $24 million.
- Petnow works by running a camera-based scan of a pet’s face from a mobile app for Android and iOS, creating a biometric profile of a pet that’s unique to them. For dogs, Petnow records a “nose print” and for cats, it looks at a cat’s “facial contour”.
- Petnow claims its algorithms are “99% accurate” at identifying individual cats and dogs. However, there are concerns about the potential for bias in the AI and the difficulty of distinguishing between animals of the same breed.
- While Petnow has around 70,000 users at present, it’s only signed five undisclosed enterprise and public sector customers. The company is pre-revenue, with a $150,000-per-month burn rate, but anticipates a contract with Korean domestic and international pet insurers by October.