Author: Ouyang Shijia | China Daily | Update time: 2021-10-13 09:48

From the best pet food to first-class toys, pet owners always want to provide the best for their furry family members.

Just as people enjoy the convenience brought by smart hardware, pet owners now also hope to bring high-tech modern gadgets into the pet world.

PETKIT Network Technology Co., Ltd. is the designer and producer of some of the world's leading smart pet products, and it sees more and more opportunities for growth in the blue ocean market.

Founded in 2013, the Shanghai-based company provides a wide range of smart pet equipment, including automatic feeders, smart drinking fountains, self-cleaning litter boxes, and air-conditioned smart pet houses. It is designed to bring convenience and safety to pet owners who take care of furry friends such as cats and dogs.

Guo Weixue, co-founder and CEO of PETKIT, said that most of the company's consumers are young pet owners born in the 1990s. Working in a fast-paced environment, young pet owners do not always have time to take care of their pets due to high work requirements or frequent business trips.

"Our goal is to make keeping pets easier and more efficient," Guo said. "When pet owners are not at home, pets will be better cared for with the help of PETKIT products and services."

For example, pet owners can use the PETKIT app to arrange feeding and control the PETKIT smart pet feeder on their smartphones when they are away from home. The company's air-conditioned smart pet house will allow consumers to remotely customize the temperature in the pet house through an app. The built-in sensor will detect the presence of pets and record data such as rest time.

In August, PETKIT announced the completion of a US$50 million Series D financing led by a wealth management platform led by Belgian investment company Sofina and Chinese alternative asset management company CDH Investments. It also attracted a large number of return supporters, such as Jiyuan Capital and Qiming Wente partners.

PETKIT provides products and services to more than 30 countries including the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

While optimistic about the field of smart pet products, Guo said that spending on smart products only accounts for a small part of the owner's pet overall expenditure.

"Pet owners will spend more on products and services such as pet food, healthcare services and pet grooming," Guo said. "Therefore, our goal is to provide pet owners with a one-stop destination, allowing them to obtain everything from pet technology solutions, pet food, pet care and medical services through our omni-channel approach."

The company has operated offline pet chain stores since 2016, providing pet products and services. As of August 2021, PETKIT chain stores have reached more than 1,500 nationwide.

According to Guo, PETKIT's revenue last year was close to 500 million yuan (US$77 million). Due to the rapid development of China's pet market and the strong economic recovery, he expects its revenue to reach about 1 billion yuan this year.

Pan Helin, executive dean of the Institute of Digital Economy, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Hubei Province, said that the emerging pet economy will bring more business opportunities to various industries such as pet grooming, pet hospitals, smart pet products and pet hotels.

"China's booming pet economy is particularly driven by the improvement of people's living standards and the changes in people's thinking and lifestyle," Pan added.

"Due to the aging population, complicated interpersonal relationships, and huge personal life pressure, there are more and more singles and DINK groups, and many people choose to keep pets as companions."