Korea’s Prime Minister awards local AI pet start-up
Seoul-based Petnow is expected to gain government support to expand the business.
Petnow has become the only pet tech company to receive the South Korean Prime Minister’s Award this year at the Agri-Food Startup Contest for its AI-driven pet biometrics identification app.
Out of 560 startups, Petnow made it to the top 10 finalists who were awarded $100,000 (€94,000) for their team capability, market competitiveness, technology innovativeness and business values for startups that address agriculture, food tech and biotechnology.
“Raising awareness is always important for startups, and we would like to leverage the chance for getting ourselves exposed to audiences including potential business partners,” says founder and CEO Jesse Joonho Lim.
The firm also won an innovation award at the 2022 CES tech trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association.
Government support
The contest, which has been hosted by the Korea Agriculture Technology Promotion Agency (KOAT) since 2015, “grants advantages for future government-funded research projects,” notes a company spokesperson.
As a contest winner, Petnow may gain government support to expand sales networks through exhibitions and programs and a connection with Nonghyup Bank and Lotte Central Research for relevant business collaborations.
Petnow, which will open its Series A funding round by mid-2024, wants to integrate its AI-biometric identification capabilities with local pet registries and insurance providers. The firm is expected to declare its insurance provider partnerships by the end of 2023.