AniMate-The Indian Pet Care Hub
We all should take care and keep concerns about the well being of every animal on this planet. We are fortunate to have developed an ability to communicate, move to the doctor when ill, speak out our problems, and express our concerns. Just do away with this gift of expression and how difficult life turns out to be.Thus being a human being it becomes our obligation to take care of creatures who haven’t been gifted with an ability to express their pain. Animals are the real companions of life. What they want is only and only affection. Animal welfare brings a bonding people have with animals and the obligations they have to make that the animals under their care are treated humanely and responsibly.
AniMate is a start-up for animals and all pet care needs. Be it a vet service or grooming service, pet food and toys, or accessories, everything is available on the app.
The app also educates people on why and how to have empathy towards animals. As an out of box thinking, the developers of this app have designed quiz sections on this app and the winners are rewarded. AniMate has tied up with animal care groups to protect stray animals. AniMate is focused on building a happy ecosystem where humans empathize with animals.
With such efforts and initiative, the pet care industry in India is growing manifold. Being in an emotionally driven business, the team of AniMate delivers specifically what the customers need.
“Whenever we talk to any brand, we talk like a pet parent and try and understand how their product can make the life of my pet better. If it resonates with us only then do we proceed,” says Anirudh Srivastava- the co-founder of AniMate.
Meet the Men behind AniMate
Anirudh is an engineer from Symbiosis International University, Pune. He brings with him rich research experience in the field of Computer Science. It was for his proven academic excellence that he was awarded a full scholarship for his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey, USA. It was his love for animals and his strong belief in the idea that Anirudh took a sabbatical from his research work and decided to go full throttle on the idea. He is also the Co-Founder and will be directly involved with the app development team and also be in a techno-managerial role with the team.
Ashish is the Co-Founder of this Firm and heads operations and logistics segment. He is an engineer from Symbiosis International University, Pune. He has been running a construction management firm in New Delhi for the past two years and serves as an integral part of team Animate. Due to his extraordinary capabilities to connect with people and understand the operations effortlessly, he is taking this venture to greater heights. Leading his previous business venture at the forefront, he aspires to bring the same impact at Animate as well.
What makes AniMate different?
Some great brand names have emerged recently for its pet services. AniMate is like an aggregator to all such services. AniMate has all the pet services under one roof. The reward-based quiz is again a creative solution to educate people about the safety of animals. This solution has made AniMate more inviting and rewarding.
Anirudh Srivastava says “ At AniMate, we have also tried to squash the concept of coupon codes. We do not believe in giving lower prices for the first time, we want to give the best prices continuously. We want to add value to a pet parent’s life. We believe humans who take care of animals have an amazing soul, we’re just trying to make their experience better.”
The Inside Story:
The company planned to launch the app in the last week of March. Unfortunately, then the pandemic struck. The team then shifted its focus on tying up with brands, and app development.
The team began using the time on social media marketing. AniMate stories of pet parents were rolled out which worked wonders in setting up a connection with the audience.
“Even before our app was launched, we had 50 odd people who were excited to browse through our app and shop. says Anirudh.
Another solid barrier that applied brakes on AniMate’s movements was the lack of finances.
“We are a bootstrapped startup and thus our spendings have been limited. But what this has done for us is that we know the optimum solution to most of the problems- brand deals, logistics, tech development, sales, and marketing. A big problem with most startups is developing trust with customers. Again our social media presence and regularity in reaching out to customers helped us greatly in that.” shares Anirudh.
In less than a year, the company is tied up with brands at a PAN India level. AniMate has a customer base that spreads to all parts of the country. The team is linked with multiple social media influencers who’ve shared their stories. (Rashika Rajput, Divya Duggar, Raspreet Sidhu, and Isha Anand Sharma). The AniMate team has done a stray animal welfare fundraiser during the lockdown and completed the first 100 unique orders in about a month.
Anirudh believes that it’s a great time to launch a startup in India. There are tremendous opportunities both in terms of market and government policies.
Though he understands that cracking those government funds isn’t easy but is optimistic about the fact that there are options now. There are MSMEs where funding up to one crore is available. There are separate options available for female entrepreneurs as well.
Besides this, incubation centres set up in educational institutes offer an opportunity to set up a workplace and also find mentors for your startup.
Being an aggregator platform Animate deals with both businesses and customers. AniMate currently has 15 brands on board and is in talks with almost a dozen more. The majority of these brands are Indian startups who are equally passionate about pet care.
“As a company policy, we have stayed away from Chinese brands which are also our differentiators. We have had to say no to some really well-known names but it’s a non-compromisable thing for us. We have Drools, Royal Canin, PurePet, PetBowl.in, PapaPawsome, Paws A Little, Pawla Land, Pet Mave, Pet Logix to name a few.” shares Anirudh
At the end of our conversation, Anirudh advises young entrepreneurs to research what they do. He thinks that everyone must find a mentor in their life who can help them overcome the roadblocks. He also advises not to be scared to start a business. There are a lot of opportunities and support if one shows a willingness to take a charge of their life.
