The PawSpace Playbook: An Urban Company For Pets In The Making?

Evy, a fawn Labrador Retriever, clutched Karthik at the waist with her front paws. Karthik tried to free himself from her grip with a reassuring sound. Little did it help and Evy whimpered. Pain, fear, anxiety, need for attention – her yip resonated the uncertainty dogging her. Evy could figure that her daddy would soon be gone, leaving him with some unknown people. 

She scurried to Shweta a few feet away. Shweta was struggling to untangle herself from the bear hug of her German Shepherd. A little bigger in size and a lot more robust, Maya used her strength to lock herself with her mom.  

Karthik and Shweta left that day for their long-awaited trip after the Covid-19 pandemic, with racing thoughts over their pets left behind. They were forced to leave Evy and Maya at a relative’s place, as they were not impressed with the kennels in Bengaluru. But in barely two days, the relatives gave up, and the couple had to rush back to take their pets away. 

That was the trigger for Karthikeyan P and Shweta Sharma Karthikeyan to think of PawSpace as something like an Urban Company in the pet care space. Mahesh Mohan joined them later.

The way quick commerce platforms Blinkit, Zepto and Instagram transformed the entire concept of household commerce, and food aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato revolutionised food delivery during the pandemic, Urban Company streamlined salon and home services. 

“During the pandemic, there was a great jump in pet parenting. A lot of people, out of compassion and kindness, adopted pets. So definitely, there was a big growth,” Shweta said.

As life limped back to normalcy, pet owners began searching for safe spaces for their furry friends. 

PawSpace made its foray in 2021 with a campaign built around the tagline, ‘Monetise your pet experience. Get paid to spend time with pets.’ 

Nearly 8,000 responses poured in from Bengaluru alone. Shweta, a former zonal revenue manager at Treebo Hotels, and Karthikeyan, then serving Indeed.com as a senior account manager, weaved their business model around service providers they would source from across the city. 

Writing A Pawsome Playbook

The startup implemented a five-step vetting process for the service providers. “We built a ‘cage-free’ boarding model, inspired by Rover in the US. We don’t just onboard anyone, we strictly onboard pet lovers,” said Shweta. 

First, they register and go through background checks using platforms like IDfy (Integrated Identity Platform). Then, they receive the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and materials to understand the responsibilities of pet care. Step three is a detailed quiz inspired by global players like MadPaws and Rover. Then follows a one-on-one interview for assessing their mindset and preparedness. 

Only after clearing all these steps, the service providers start receiving limited assignments to collect early feedback from customers. 

The Bengaluru-based startup offers 10 services on its platform in the city and has recently expanded to Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Coimbatore, with limited services for pilots. 

PawSpace’s in-house services include pet grooming, pet taxi for pickup and drop-off, and pet food for freshly cooked food delivered twice a week. For these services, the startup has contractual employees like groomers who get a minimum number of daily orders. 

“They don’t just provide the service, they act as ambassadors for PawSpace. We’ve essentially trained all our groomers, sitters, and trainers to also be our salespeople, helping extend Pawspace’s vision and mission directly into the homes of our customers,” Shweta said. “If we charge a customer INR 100, the entire INR 100 is booked as company revenue.” 

PawSpace has six more services – pet boarding, pet sitting, dog walking, dog training, pet funeral and pet relocation (sometimes referred to as pet plantation service). “These are commission-based services. We have pet lovers registered on our platform as hosts, sitters, trainers, walkers, and so on,” she said. “In every assignment, 70% goes to the service provider, and 30% is our commission.” 

After onboarding these service providers, the startup provides them monthly training through webinars and live sessions where they share learnings, troubleshoot challenges, and resolve issues. “Our model is asset-light. In-home boarding and pet sitting services are delivered by external pet lovers who meet our quality standards,” she said. 

The founders even conduct mystery visits to verify the premises and ensure the space is suitable, whether it’s owned or rented. For home boarding, they ask the applicants to share house videos and documents. 

“For pet sitting (where the caregiver visits the pet parent’s home), we are even more cautious, as it involves entering someone’s private space. Sitters are required to sign service-level agreements (SLAs) outlining their responsibilities, with legal clauses in place for non-compliance.” 

The startup claims to have partnered with veterinary hospitals and service professionals for the upkeep of the furry friends. For the first booking, the startup facilitates a meet-and-greet call so that both parties can assess comfort and suitability. From the second time on, repeat bookings are seamless through the PawSpace app.

Making Pawprints In A Crowd Of Collars

Pet care in India is expected to scale INR 2.1 Lakh Cr by 2032, averaging a 20% annual growth, fuelled by rising pet ownership, investment, and evolving consumer behaviour. In fact, India is home to an estimated 100 Mn pets, including 30 Mn in urban households, as of 2025.

As investors swarm in for the impressive growth potential, more than 500 pet care startups have come up in India over the last 15 years. Some of these are pet care product marketplaces, some are ecommerce platforms, some services platforms and a few D2C brands. The biggest brands include Supertails, Heads Up For Tails, Dogsee, Doggie Dabbas and Drools, which recently turned a unicorn. 

“The increasing number of competitors shows that a really great market is building up, and seeing players like Drools, we have the confidence to be part of this space,” Karthik said. 

PawSpace built the operational discipline and a service-first approach in four ways. First, consistent growth by maintaining an above-30% growth rate in customer addition. 

Second, making a model pivot for profitability that helped it streamline operations, optimise team allocation, and revise service mix to focus on high-margin verticals. Third, customer retention with an over 37% repeat rate. Last, making a scalable playbook by staying asset-light, enabling city expansions without high fixed costs.

PawSpace counts Bengaluru-based MyPetz and PawsnCollars as its immediate competitors, offering similar services such as fresh food and pet grooming and spa, veterinary services, pet hotel and swimming pool. 

“We acknowledge this rise in the pet care industry. But, there are still very few companies truly adopting this pet services segment, which is very much the need of the hour,” Karthik said.

Scaling The Ladder, Paw By Paw

The startup reported a revenue of INR 1.8 Cr in FY25.

“In Bangalore alone, our average monthly GMV is INR 25-27 Lakh. It was INR 27.5 Lakh in July,” said Shweta. “We’re aiming to cross INR 2 Cr in revenue this fiscal.” 

After running for four years on capital from the founders, the startup recently raised INR 60 Lakh from 12 angel investors, with another INR 40 Lakh in the pipeline to be closed soon. PawSpace is looking to allocate the capital towards tech upgrades, CRM systems, and other foundational infrastructure. It is also planning to raise a seed round of INR 2.5 Cr and is in discussions with some VCs and angel investors. 

PawSpace claims to price its services consciously, maintaining parity or charging less. The bath package, for instance, starts at INR 799 per session. “At this price, we bring a full pet spa experience to the customer’s doorstep, saving them travel time, fuel costs, and the effort of commuting, while ensuring their pets are stress-free in a familiar environment,” Karthik said. 

As PawSpace sets its internal and external play, aided by a steady expansion strategy, it shows a clear intent to stay fixed on its aspiration to be the Urban Company in the pet care space. 

[Edited by Kumar Chatterjee]