Purina, Europe’s leading pet care company, is inviting startups from around the world to become the next generation of pet care innovators by opening applications for the sixth edition of Unleashed, which, with the support of the Purina Accelerator Lab, identifies and supports disruptive startups that use innovative technologies to improve the lives of pets and the people who love them. In 2025, Unleashed will commit to accelerating up to 10 new startups: companies that want to get involved can submit their application by September 30, 2024, and the winners will be announced in February 2025.

The company is looking for startups from all over the world that use innovative technological solutions, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence, to solve pet owners' problems through relevant, scalable and sustainable projects. Purina provides the winners with proven growth and experimentation techniques as well as the support of Unleashed Champions and coaches dedicated to individual projects who will guide and assist the selected companies through their experience and skills. The winners will also have the opportunity to access the Unleashed and Purina networks.

This edition marks the sixth anniversary of the Unleashed program, which to date has received over 1,400 applications from 50 different countries and has already successfully accelerated 33 startups and provided meaningful solutions for pet owners around the world. In some cases, Purina's collaboration with the winning startups has turned into a real commercial agreement or an incubation. An example of this is Dogamì, the winning company of Unleashed 2023 that Purina has supported in the creation of a community of pet lovers who can demonstrate their passion for pets through technology.

The positive collaboration between the company and Dogamì has in fact evolved outside of the program and led to the recent launch of Purina Dogasnax, the first virtual pet food brand in collaboration with Purina and Dogamì Academy, the innovative dog racing gaming app. Feragen is also an example of ongoing collaboration: after winning the 2022 edition of Unleashed, the startup that provides genetic tests to breeders to improve the health of purebreds has continued to work with Purina. With the aim of helping to address the problem of poor breeding and reproduction practices, Feragen's product has proven to be a welcome game changer in the industry and an excellent strategic choice for Unleashed, which continues to support the startup to ensure the growth of its services and its geographical expansion.

Kim Bill , Head of the Purina Accelerator Lab, said, “The pet industry has always been very innovation- and growth-driven, and startups are often leaders in leveraging new technologies and applying them to the industry. As new AI technologies emerge, startups will be at the forefront of shaping AI to improve the lives of pets and their loved ones. Working with startups from around the world helps the entire team think about industry challenges in new and different ways. We’ve been experimenting and learning alongside our startups, and every member has benefited from this journey, which gets better every year. We’re very excited about the new Class of 2025 and the continued growth of our Unleashed network.”

“At Purina, every year we renew with commitment and great curiosity this important project to help with our experience and resources the most promising companies that share our goal of supporting pets and the people who love them through new technologies and increasingly innovative services,” commented Rafael Lopez , Regional Director Italy and Southern Europe of Purina. “An experience that every year proves to be of value for all the players involved; in fact, we are not just talking about our support for young companies, but also the value that they bring to us, helping us to observe the world of pet care from different angles and offering us new food for thought and innovation. A fruitful collaboration to continue to innovate our sector.”