Impact Company: BestyBnB are Breaking Barriers in Pet Care and Keeping Pets and People Together
The Leap Venture Studio blog series is back for another exciting year! In March 2024, six innovative early-stage pet care startups joined the 12-week program to accelerate their ventures.
These companies partnered with experts from Mars Petcare and Michelson Found Animals, gaining access to venture capital investment, mentorship, and tailored programming designed to help meet their individual needs.
Plus, for the first time one company joined the Leap Venture Studio as a company of impact, where they received an award to further their exceptional level of social impact for both pets and their people.
BestyBnB helps Animal Welfare, Domestic Violence, Mental Health, Veteran Affairs and Houseless Service Agencies find safe, temporary homes for Pets during their owners’ time of crisis.
Tell us about your startup:
BestyBnB is a tech-driven social impact venture that breaks down barriers to care by helping people in crisis find safe, temporary homes for their pets. Think of it as a confidential Airbnb for pets, connecting agencies like animal shelters, domestic violence services, and mental health organizations with trained foster homes. By keeping pets and their people connected, BestyBnB preserves the vital human-animal bond while offering agencies tools to manage pet advocacy and engage their communities.
How has your startup made a difference for pets?
To date, 40 Animal Shelters and Human Social Service Agencies across 15 states have adopted BestyBnB. In just six months in Kansas City, partners provided over 4,500 ‘Safe Nights’ with a 100% reunification rate.
BestyBnB ensures pet owners in crisis can access life-saving help without surrendering their pets or facing worse outcomes.
The need is urgent. As many as 71% of domestic violence survivors report their abuser threatened or harmed a pet, and over 50% of callers seeking emergency help decline services when they learn they can’t bring their pet. This issue extends beyond domestic violence to all Human Social Service Agencies.
BestyBnB bridges the gap by connecting agencies with trained foster homes while ensuring confidentiality. Foster caregivers can ask about a pet’s needs, share updates, and provide a loving home until pets are reunited with their families, keeping the human-animal bond intact.
What are the greatest challenges you’ve faced as a startup founder and how have you overcome them?
Our experience with past tech startups prepared us to launch BestyBnB with focus and efficiency. Before this, we co-founded a platform for the Entertainment and Fashion industries, creating enterprise-level tools used by NBC Universal, HBO, Netflix, and FOX. After six years, the platform was acquired, giving us invaluable lessons in product development, innovation, and scaling a business.
These experiences taught us to replicate what works, refine what doesn’t, and avoid costly mistakes. BestyBnB was a unique challenge, there was no roadmap for a solution like ours. But bringing something entirely new to market, especially one that has such a meaningful impact on Pets and People in need, is worth the effort.
What is your biggest takeaway from the Leap Venture Studio?
We’ve had so many positive experiences being a part of the Leap Venture Studio program. The program has introduced us to other like-minded entrepreneurs and accomplished experts in the pet industry from across the globe.
At BestyBnB, we’ve created a community-centric approach to helping People and Pets. It works at its best when a community comes together, much like the culture that has been established within Leap Venture Studio program.
From the Leap Venture Studio leadership to the fellow cohort of founders, you really feel like you are part of a tight-knit and supportive community within the Leap Venture Studio ecosystem.
Being a part of Leap Venture Studio is like having a very well accomplished, extremely connected Aunt, who has travelled the world, built multiple businesses, understands the challenges and needs of being a startup. She is always willing and available to find time to help you out and make valuable introductions because you are family. The Leap team has truly made us feel like family.
What advice would you give fellow pet care founders just starting their journey?
We wanted to share a few helpful tips we’ve picked up along the way, which include:
- Love what you do and embrace the journey. Let your pet(s) remind you daily why you’re working to make the world better for pets and their people.
- Become an expert on your product and its need/market fit before fundraising — and definitely before building or producing anything!
- You’ll often ask others for advice, help, and direction. Make time to offer the same kind of help to others who need it from you.
- The world has embraced Zoom, Teams, and Google Chat. If office space is truly necessary early on, be prudent. Look for ways to reduce overhead effectively to extend your runway.
- Keep your core team lean, with everyone able to wear multiple hats. Use proven contractors when possible, so you can adjust resources as needed without losing valuable full-time employees.
- Always listen to and learn from the people you’re building your product for. It sounds simple, but being an expert listener and learner is key.
- Never stop fundraising. Keep your foot on the gas, especially when driving up a mountain.
- The pet industry is a small, tight-knit world full of brilliant, passionate people who love pets. Be kind. When in doubt, ask yourself, “How would my pet treat me?”… and be that cool!”
Tell us about your pet(s)!
Lucky is the Krentz family dog, and he’s living his best life. When he’s not snuggled up on one of the kids’ laps or curled up in our bed, this 15-pound Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mix is busy catching Frisbees, sliding down the school playground slide, chasing birds twice his size, and greeting everyone at the door with a flurry of kisses.
Over at the Bond home, Mabel, a feisty little Wheaten mix, and Maude, a German Shorthair/Lab mix, run the show. They’re like the ultimate odd couple, Mabel acts like she’s 10 times her size, while Maude is convinced, she’s a lap dog despite her long, muscular frame. Both are a perfect mix of smart, sweet, and a little bit ornery.
Allergies keep us from having a cat, much to my daughter’s dismay, but we make up for it by doting on our friends’ cats and the kitties at the local cat café!
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To learn more about BestyBnB, visit their website.
If you are interested in connecting with their team, email us at leapventurestudio@gmail.com.
