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For additional information, please contact:
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Richard Luftig | Managing Partner |
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rluftig@castleplacement.com |
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(212) 418-1181 |
Overview | Beyond monitoring. Real-time care dogs can feel.
Pawsitive Inc. is raising $5 million in equity to commercialize TouchOne, a patent-pending, award-winning pet care platform that helps owners respond when their dog is struggling – turning sensing into action, data into care, and peace of mind humans can feel too.
- Winner of the Purina Pet Care Innovation Prize 2026, TouchOne combines proprietary wearable sensing, AI-driven software, and real-time sound/touch intervention
- Long term vision – Initial market entry focuses on helping dogs stay calmer when left alone, one of the most common and emotionally painful problems for dog owners, with future applications across calm, training, safety, connection, play, and long-term wellbeing
- Award winning team – Led by a cross-functional team with deep expertise across neuroscience, product innovation, and pet industry commercialization, including former leaders from Nestlé Purina and Zoetis
Opportunity
The global pet-care industry is expanding as owners increasingly treat pets as family and spend more on premium products that improve quality of life.
- Rapid Global Pet Tech Growth — projected to grow from ~$19.1B in 2026 to ~$52.9B by 2035, driven by AI, IoT and connected care
- Wearables as the Entry Point — pet wearables are projected to grow from ~$8.6B in 2026 to ~$21.8B by 2035, enabling continuous sensing and engagement
- Beyond Monitoring — most pet tech tells owners what happened. The next step is real-time support that helps owners respond
- Premiumization from Pet Humanization — owners are spending more on wellness, behavior and quality-of-life solutions for pets treated as family
- Emerging Behavioral Health Category — growing awareness of canine stress, emotional wellbeing and prevention is opening a new category in pet care
The Problem | Anxiety for Pets & Pet-Parents
Millions of dogs struggle alone at home — and owners have no real way to help in the moment.
The dog struggles at home.
The owner carries the stress away.
Millions of dogs experience:
- Separation anxiety
- Stress, barking, pacing and destructive behavior
- Depression when left alone
Owners feel it too:
- Guilt, worry and stress while away
- Costs, damage to the home and disrupted routines
- No way to help in real time
Existing solutions are fragmented:
- Cameras and trackers → show the problem, but cannot help
- Medication → reactive, costly and often with hard side effects
The Solution |TouchOne™: Sensing, Understanding & Responding
- TouchOne combines a smart dog wearable with an app-based SaaS platform to detect physiological and behavioral signals and deliver remote support through science backed comforting sound and touch
- The platform is designed as a closed loop: monitor the dog’s state, classify likely emotional condition, trigger a personalized intervention, and re-monitor the response
- The harness form factor enables richer, more stable multi-sensor data capture than smart collars, while remaining practical for daily use and safer for the dog
Impact |TouchOne Delivers Calm
w/in~3mins of Activating TouchOne, the dogs’ heartrate decreases thus calming the dog. When turned off, it increases again.
The Technology |How it works
TouchOne
Automatic Mode
- Detects multiple parameters providing measurable tools to evaluate the mental and physical state of the pet
- Initiates action via sound and/or touch (haptics) to reduce or eliminate the ongoing stress
Manual Mode
- Pet owner can intervene on site or remotely with sounds, haptics or direct voice control for the pet
Competitive Landscape |Next level PetTech Evolution
The pet tech ecosystem is well-developed but highly fragmented, with incumbents focused on single-function solutions.
TouchOne helps owner understand, support and connect with the dog for the variety of their needs
Top concerns owners have about their pets when away*
Competitive Landscape |Filling the Response Gap
Most pet tech can observe, track and alert. TouchOne brings the missing layer: response.
Why We Win?
PawsitiveTouch is uniquely positioned to define and lead the emerging category of AI-driven pet well being, communication and emotional health, driven by a combination of product architecture, data advantage, and team capability that is difficult to replicate.
- Team Built for The Problem
Unique combination of neuroscience, product, and pet tech expertise, including leadership experience from Nestlé Purina PetCare, Zoetis and more - IP Protected + Trade Secrets
- First Utility patent is pending. Rich IP pipeline (readying Utility & Design applications) driven by our R&D
- Only Closed-Loop Platform
TouchOne is the only system that detects, intervenes, and learns – shifting pet care from monitoring to measurable outcomes - Compounding Data Advantage
Every interaction improves accuracy and personalization, creating a proprietary behavioral dataset that strengthens over time - System-Level Complexity
Combines hardware, AI, Sensory Neuroscience and real-time intervention – difficult for single-function incumbents to replicate - AI
TouchOne is a platform, which will allow any company or dog owner to develop and monetize additional applications - First-Mover in Behavioral Health
Competitors own tracking and monitoring; PawsitiveTouch is defining the emotional wellbeing and communication category
Next 6-12 Months (Critical Inflection)
- Revenue Model: The model combines TouchOne revenue, recurring subscription tiers, and long-term value from engagement, retention, personalization and proprietary emotional-response data
- Beachhead: Dogs spending time alone owned by people who already pay for their own mental wellbeing solutions (Therapy, Meditation apps, massages, etc.)
- Platform future abilities: training, safety, play +API to allow companies and dog owners to develop and monetize their own apps built for the TouchOne platform
Advisors |We learn from the best
PawsitiveTouch is supported by an exceptional advisory board of former C-level pet industry executives, veterinarian, successful exited operators, and pioneering research leaders shaping the future of animal health and wellbeing.
Specific Risks
- Hardware & Supply Chain — Commercialization depends on reliable manufacturing, supply stability, and product performance at scale
- Market Adoption — As a new premium category, adoption requires clear positioning, value proof, and customer education
- Scientific Validation — Continued testing is needed to validate claims, improve personalization, and support differentiation
- Margins & Unit Economics — Target economics depend on component costs, manufacturing efficiency, and scale
- Customer Acquisition — Early GTM may require higher upfront spend to build awareness and scalable channels
- Engagement & Retention — Product value depends on consistent usage, intuitive experience, and sustained engagement
- Competition — Incumbents may enter intervention-based pet care with existing customers and distribution
- Data & Regulation — The company must adapt to evolving privacy, storage, and data-use requirements
- Partnerships — Growth initiatives may depend on third-party timelines and outcomes
- Capital Needs — Scaling may require additional capital for manufacturing, commercialization, and expansion
- Safety, Welfare & Claims — Claims must remain evidence-led, humane, and carefully positioned
- Investment Risk — Private securities are speculative, illiquid, and may result in total loss
Mitigation / Risk Reduction
- Experienced operators; multi-source manufacturing; DFM, pilots, QC checkpoints
- Influencers + visuals + proof; UX-led onboarding; testimonials, expert validation
- Proprietary dataset; rigorous testing; defined validation, expert review, continuous improvement
- Experienced team; cost control via BOM, sourcing, standardization; staged margin optimization
- Targeted CAC strategy; referrals, partnerships, content; test channels, track payback
- Strong UX team; simple setup, reliability, feedback loops; usability testing, retention analytics
- Patent-pending IP + data moat; expand coverage, accelerate data, build partnerships
- Monitor regulations; privacy-by-design, consent, security, vendor diligence
- DTC-first demand; partnerships as accelerators; diversified pipeline, avoid early exclusivity
- Lean execution; milestone-based spend; disciplined forecasting, flexible scaling
- Data-backed claims; safety-first design; expert review, clear usage guidance
- Transparent governance; milestone discipline; clear risk disclosure, investor responsibility
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