Hilary Jensen: The Pet Tech Industry Veteran with St. Louis Connections

Hilary Jensen took her corporate background from heavyweights like Google and Symantec into pet, founding Obe, launching an elegant and award winning IoT feeding bowl with a lot of individualized pet health tech. Today she brings a laser focus on enabling pet owners to provide better health and nutrition to their pets.

Hilary Jensen took her corporate background from heavyweights like Google and Symantec into pet, founding Obe, launching an elegant and award winning IoT feeding bowl with a lot of individualized pet health tech. Today she brings a laser focus on enabling pet owners to provide better health and nutrition to their pets.

Since becoming the first ever Grand Prize Winner of the Pet Care Innovation Prize, Hilary has been named an Arch Grants Recipient and backed by Capital Innovators. She shares with us why pet tech is way more than hardware.

Describe what you do in pet tech.

Obe is your pet’s virtual personal nutritionist finding the most nourishing food and treats they’ll love based on your pet’s unique needs and sensitivities.

How diverse and inclusive is the Pet Tech Ecosystem?

I think the pet tech ecosystem reflects the same business environment the majority of entrepreneurs see in any other industry.

Who are your favorite people in the Pet Tech Ecosystem and why?

I can’t limit myself to “tech” since so much of the industry is interdependent. John Giannuzzi, Chairman of Pet Plan has been a consistent and generous mentor from day one for me and Obe.

My fellow nerds, like Erick Eidus from PupPod and Leo from CleverPet are incredibly supportive and share the same passion for pet health and wellness. Other female entrepreneurs in pet health and pet tech, especially Jenn Erdman of Ewegurt and Collette Bunton of Whistle, inspire me and make me a better business person.

What do other people not understand about the Pet Tech Ecosystem and the Digital/Connected Pet Experience concept?
People don’t understand that digital pet health is just as compelling and game changing as digital human health.

What are the opportunities in the Pet Tech Ecosystem?

Collaboration and partnerships among start-ups.

Where and by whom is the most promising work in the field being done?

There are a lot of promising companies out there. Now, with the added bump from the pandemic, digital pet health and televet medicine are getting the attention they warrant from consumers and the investor community.

What do you do to keep your batteries charged?

Good sleep, good exercise, and conversations with other entrepreneurs.

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