Purina Petcare is inviting applicants for its 2022 pet innovation programme.
The "Unleashed" competition, now in its third year, looks to find the most innovating pet care start-ups, which focus on products and services, and offers expertise to help them grow. This year, judges are particularly looking for start-ups using technology to help address global challenges in sustainability.
In particular, they will look to support entrepreneurs and small business who use regenerative agriculture, zero waste systems and sustainable pet food innovations such as alternative proteins and upcycled ingredients.
Entrants who also help strengthen the pet-human bond will also be welcomed.
Each start-up selected into the Unleashed programme will be supported by a selected team of Purina experts to help their growth through a structured, funded project over 24 weeks.
The scheme has previously backed entrepreneurs including the team of BorrowMyDoggy, the fast-growing UK dog sharing scheme, which helps pet owners find a supportive community of dog lovers in their local neighbourhoods. Since being supported by Unleashed, BorrowMyDoggy has gone from strength to strength, with the recent launch of BorrowMyDoggy for Work, an employer scheme which allows workers to find trusted borrowers in their local area to help with their dog during the working day.
This new programme is now in operation at over 18 companies including some large corporates and employee platforms, plus seven universities across the UK.
Rikke Rosenlund, BorrowMyDoggy founder said: "Prior joining the Unleashed programme, we had only tested out the potential for a B2B launch on a very small scale and with only a handful of companies. But building a close relationship with the Purina team and benefiting from their knowledge and resources meant we were able to enhance our work and prepare to formally launch BorrowMyDoggy for Work.
"Without the Unleashed programme, the idea of offering BorrowMyDoggy membership as an employee benefit would still be in its early infancy. It's an incredibly exciting time, and we hope to support many more dog owners out there when they return to work."
Kim Bill, head of the Purina Accelerator Lab said: "2022 will be the third year of the Unleashed programme and it has demonstrated just how both the start-ups and the Purina teams have truly benefited through the unique design of our accelerator, which calls for a sincere goal of partnership to test and learn.
"Our mantra is win-win-win, for our start-ups, for Purina and ultimately for our consumers, and this is the basis of our success. I look forward tremendously to our third cohort and encourage all disruptive sustainability and pet start-ups to apply."
To apply, simply go to http://www.unleashedbypurina.com to submit your application.