Maven 2022: Proactive Pet Care
In this interview DeliveryRank heard from CEO, Guilherme Coelho on how Maven improves pets’ quality of life and brings owners peace of mind.
Please share the story behind Maven: What sparked the idea and how has it evolved since then?
Most pet owners consider pets as part of the family. Yet since they don’t talk, how can we know if they’re safe and healthy? This was the initial spark, in a nutshell.
Existing traditional veterinary care solutions are reactionary. This means that an issue only starts being treated when the pet starts to show evident signs of affliction - and by then, it might be too late. We deeply believe that prevention is better than cure, and so we started working on a solution focused on the concept of providing proactive pet care.
The Vet was always at the center of the idea - we’d collect the pet’s data and the Vet would analyze it, using their unique expertise to provide decisive insights. And that’s what we’ve been building upon! Through continuous monitoring of each pet’s data and behavioral patterns, our Vets are able to dynamically make recommendations to improve their life. And if something unusual is detected, the owner will be notified at an early stage and advised on what to do next, potentially avoiding major complications.
How does it work?
Maven improves pets’ quality of life and brings owners peace of mind. The pet’s health and well-being are continuously tracked with our devices (the Maven Collar and Maven Home station) and thoroughly monitored by their assigned Maven Vet.
The Vet interprets and comments on the data for the owner, providing insights on what can be improved, and letting them know if there’s anything unusual to worry about. Via the Maven App, owners have access to all the data and much more (weekly check-ups covering all body systems, a journal where they can share any relevant information about their pet - symptoms, appointments…). Additionally, they have 24/7 access to our Vet Team via chat or scheduled video calls, so they can always get professional help at a moment’s notice!
What type of data is collected?
Maven focuses on the monitoring of pet health and well-being. However, it’s much more than a simple activity/sleep tracker as many others already out there, for several reasons - the main one being that there’s a real Vet assigned to each specific pet, who'll continuously monitor their data, provide actionable insights that will actually make a difference to improve their life, and let the owner know if there's anything to worry about.
One concept that is at the center of the whole Maven experience is Zest. It measures the ideal daily amount of activity each individual pet should register regarding their particular needs (considering factors like their life stage, lifestyle, unique features or health conditions) vs the amount they’re actually registering. Basically, since every pet has unique features and needs, our aim is to have the most personalized Zest as possible for each pet.
Besides this, each pet owner is asked to fill in their pet’s profile and is able to provide other relevant information (via medical records, weekly in-app health checkups, journal entries and more) to assure the Vet has all the information needed to make an accurate assessment.
What information is accessible to pet owners?
All of the above! Everyday they will have updated activity and sleep cards reporting on how their pet spent their time, as well as daily and weekly Zest updates (they’re also able to see their pet’s progress over time). They’ll receive the Vet’s insights on their pet’s data on a daily basis, and a different check-up to fill every week concerning their body systems. These check-ups are meant to allow the Vet to obtain any relevant information regarding the pet’s health which cannot be measured by our devices.
With AI integration is there any room for error or potential misdiagnosis?
Our AI enters the picture mostly to build and analyze patterns regarding the activity data that is collected over time. When a significant deviation is identified, this is brought to the Vet’s attention, who will then analyze the data and verify if there may be in fact an issue.
Any and all assessments will always need to be corroborated by our Vets, who have a personal relationship with each user and their pet, thus preventing any algorithm-related misdiagnosis.
To be clear, our service does not replace having a physical Vet for any necessary in-clinic examinations! Our mission is simply to provide a proactive approach to pet care, rather than a reactive approach that is currently the norm.
Any new developments or plans for the future that you would like to share?
We are really excited about the possibility of future clinical studies based on the data patterns we’re collecting (regarding different breeds, age groups, etc). But in general terms, we believe that detecting pet illnesses at an early stage can dramatically shift the paradigm of pet care, so we look forward to changing the way pet care is approached globally!
