• Petcube

  Led · Grant · Oct 2014

  Petcube provides interactive pet monitors that let busy pet owners interact with their animals remotely. Its devices are used by over 100,000 device owners who interact an average of 50 minutes per week, at a frequency of about eight times per week. The company distributes in 18 countries through more than 5,000 retail locations across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, and sells online via Petcube.com and Amazon. Through partnerships with rescue organizations like the SF SPCA and pet food brand Wellness, Petcube is building an intelligent platform for pet care. The company intends to use the new funding to ramp up product development, sales and marketing for U.S. and international expansion. Petcube is led by CEO and co-founder Yaroslav Azhnyuk. Petcube produces the $199 Petcube Camera, an app-connected home device that streams HD 720p video and includes a built-in microphone, speaker and an app-controlled 5mW 3R class laser toy certified safe for pets. The product connects to home Wi‑Fi to let owners watch and interact with pets remotely and includes an "explore" app section that links users with shelter animals. Petcube launched via a successful Kickstarter that raised over $250,000 and sells the camera through Petcube, Amazon, Brookstone, Best Buy and Frye's. The company traces back to HAXLR8R in 2013 and participated in Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 class. Management says the new funding will be used to expand distribution and to build additional pet-focused products that are already in development. To date Petcube has about 30 U.S. pet shelters using its cameras to help with adoptions. Petcube produces the Petcube Camera, a wide-angle, Wi‑Fi‑enabled device with real-time video and a built-in laser pointer controlled via free iOS and Android apps. The company's mobile apps also create a community for pet lovers to share photos, find friends and play with publicly shared pets. After a $250k Kickstarter campaign, Petcube delivered cameras to backers in December 2014 and is shipping its second production batch. The company intends to use the $1.1M seed funding to expand worldwide sales into brick-and-mortar retail stores in the US and Canada. Petcube is led by CEO and co-founder Yaroslav Azhnyuk and is based in San Francisco, with offices in Kyiv and Shenzhen. The product is available for purchase through petcube.com. Petcube develops a connected hardware gadget and companion mobile app to allow pet owners to interact, chat and play with their animals remotely. The company gained traction via PR and crowdfunding, raising roughly $500,000 on Kickstarter from more than 1,700 backers. Petcube has a team of 18 people and is publicly positioned in Europe and the US following competition wins and media attention. In spring it won “Best Hardware Startup of 2014” at The Europas, and it has led various Ukrainian startup rankings. The startup recently received a grant of 240,000 hryvnias (about $18,500) from the Global Technology Foundation. Petcube is preparing to raise a $1.5 million seed-stage round.

• myTips

  Participated · Grant · Aug 2014

  myTips develops interactive online tutorials for complex interfaces without coding. The Ukrainian startup was accepted into the 500 Startups accelerator and relocated to San Francisco to develop its business in the USA. 500 Startups' program is structured as a $100,000 investment for a 7% stake, of which $25,000 is deducted to pay for the acceleration program, leaving myTips with $75,000 in cash. Previously the team incubated at London SeedCamp, which invested €25,000 for 5% of the company. myTips also received a 240,000 hryvnia grant from the Global Technology Foundation. CEO Bogdan Suchik said much of the money will go to development, building a customer base and testing marketing channels, and that the team still has work to finalize the product in a new direction. The 500 Startups program began on June 14 and runs until mid-October; the tenth cycle includes 27 startups.

No current team members are available.