Five pet care startups from across the U.S. pitched their businesses to pet industry influencers and investors at Global Pet Expo for a chance to win the 2022 Pet Care Innovation Prize powered by Purina. This year’s grand prize winner was FluentPet.

The grand prize is worth $10,000 and comes with support from pet care leader Purina.

A San Diego-based startup is the company behind the FluentPet HexTile System: a way to combine recordable sound buttons and connecting HexTiles that enables dogs, cats, and other animals to express themselves and be understood by humans. FluentPet uses cognitive science and academic research to make teaching, learning, and communicating easier for pets and their people.

“We are so grateful to be this year’s Grand Prize winner, a prize we’ve been working toward for a number of years now,” said Leo Trottier, Founder and CEO of FluentPet.

FluentPet was selected by a panel of judges consisting of investors, industry experts, and executives from Purina’s 9 Square Ventures division.

In January, FluentPet was one of five startups  selected from more than 120 companies from 75 cities globally to participate in the 2022 class for the Pet Care innovation Prize.

The other 2022 Pet Care Innovation Prize Winners are:

Bright Planet Pet (brightplanetpet.com) — Bloomington, Minnesota-based Bright Planet Pet makes 100% plant-based dog treats that taste and smell like real meat. For every bag sold, Bright Planet makes a donation to plant one tree.

Paway  (www.paway.com) — Los Angeles, California-based Paway is a social network just for dogs, available on iOS & Android. Members can create a social profile to meet local dog parents, keep track of  their dog’s health & find dog-friendly places.

QSM Diagnostics (www.qsmdiagnostics.com) – Boston, Massachusetts-based, the company’s patented technology allows veterinarians to  diagnose and monitor bacterial infections in dogs and cats using disposable sensors for point of care infection detection and monitoring.

uPetsia (www.upetsia.com) — Oro Valley, Arizona-based uPetsia solves the problem of bad dog breath by modifying natural canine oral bacteria to produce mint aromas. These bacteria can be incorporated into treats and food and fed to dogs, giving them mint breath for several hours.

The Pet Care Innovation Prize was created to support and connect with early stage pet care startups that are currently in market with an innovative business addressing pet and pet owner needs.

To find out more about the Pet Care Innovation program, visit PetCareInnovation.net.