Three Founders. One Cohort.
Hundreds of startups applied to Pawsible Ventures' first venture studio cohort. Three of the founders who made it explain what actually got them in. Ana Malhotra on pivoting from Rome to Tato after watching a private dog park hand-check vaccine records every day, and on 65,000 pets already in the system. Lauren Burrows on the prelaunch deposits that proved Charlie Pet Health was more than a good idea, and a four-city expansion across the US and Canada. Davide Confalonieri on bootstrapping Lab4Paws through several pivots, and why execution, not the idea, was the deciding factor.
Hundreds of startups applied. Only a select handful were chosen for Pawsible Ventures’ inaugural venture studio. We spoke with three of those founders building companies across AI, preventive pet health, and veterinary research to understand what set them apart, what they’ve learned since joining the program, and the advice they’d give other entrepreneurs hoping to build the next great pet company.
We spoke with
- Ana Malhotra — Co-Founder & CEO, Tato
- Lauren Burrows — Co-Founder & CCO, Charlie Pet Health
- Davide Confalonieri, PhD — Founder & CEO, Lab4Paws
Davide Confalonieri — Founder & CEO, Lab4Paws
Other Interviews
More conversations with founders, operators, and investors building the future of pet care.
Elizabeth Iorns | Co-Founder & CEO, Familiar Therapeutics
Elizabeth Iorns lost her French Bulldog to a brain tumor that a published canine study suggested could be treated, but no company had taken the drug forward for dogs. Now she and Science Exchange co-founder Dan Knox license the companion animal rights to human drugs at Familiar Therapeutics: 13 programs and $5 million raised in five months, plus a pitch to pharma that pet trials validate targets faster than phase two.
Brian Cheng | Co-Founder, HOLY CAP
HOLY CAP launched in Hong Kong in 2022 selling functional mushroom powders and learned fast that pet owners will not measure another supplement into the bowl. Co-founder Brian Cheng explains the pivot to lickable Squeezees, why in-person sampling beats Amazon at this stage, the operating cost of 14 SKUs split across dogs and cats, and the plan to become a complete-diet brand.
Dennis Gucker & David Franklin | Co-Founders, PawPay
Fewer than 5% of U.S. pets are insured, and PawPay's co-founders think the failure is operational, not emotional. Dennis Gucker explains what carriers told them about the gap between point of sale and point of care, why the company stayed carrier-agnostic, and how real-time coverage scoring plus point-of-care payment changes what clinics can say yes to.