[Young journalist Seohyeong Moon] Petground, a pet healthcare startup, announced that it has been selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ private investment-led technology startup support program, TIPS.

This selection was made based on the recommendation of Y&Archer, the TIPS operator. PetGround plans to leverage its research and development funds to advance artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that support the prevention and management of pet health.

PetGround has developed the device “Fompet,” which measures pets’ biometric information to assess obesity, the wearable device “Runpet,” which analyzes activity and behavioral data, and the vision AI solution “Vupet,” which analyzes images of the eyes, skin, teeth, and other areas to detect abnormal signs.

According to the company, Fompet can detect a pet's biometric information in approximately 15 seconds. They also explained that behavioral and image data collected through Runpet and Beupet will be used to monitor their health status.

PetGround is planning to integrate biometric, behavioral, image, and clinical data collected from each device into a single data lake through the TIPS project.

The plan is to develop an AI engine for predicting disease risk by building a machine learning operations system (MLOps) that learns from data accumulated during actual use and manages model performance.

The company stated that, through an industry-academic partnership with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kyungpook National University, the sixth clinical trial is currently underway, and more than 6,300 clinical data cases have been collected so far.

However, AI analysis results do not replace a veterinary diagnosis confirming a pet’s illness, and if any abnormal signs are detected, the animal should undergo professional examination at a veterinary hospital.

Petground’s representative product, Pompet, won the “CES 2026 Innovation Award.” At the “Gyeonggi Deep Tech Flex 2025” demo day, they received the grand prize, the Minister of SMEs and Startups Award, while in Shinhan Financial Group’s Open Innovation program, they carried out a demonstration project with Nongshim’s “Banyeo-daum” and were selected as an outstanding collaborative team.

They are also pursuing entry into the global market. They established a local U.S. subsidiary, “Pet Ground Global LLC,” and signed a supply contract with Japan’s Kuruzora.

Ahn Hong-sik, CEO of PetGround, said, “This selection for TIPS recognizes the technological capabilities and business potential of an integrated platform that connects pets’ biological, behavioral, dietary, and clinical data.” He added, “We will contribute to helping the entire pet industry, including pet owners, veterinary hospitals, insurance companies, and feed and pharmaceutical companies shift from post-treatment to prediction and prevention.”

Established in 2024, Petground has registered or filed 10 patents related to the analysis of biometric information of companion animals both domestically and internationally. Along with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kyungpook National University, it is also conducting international joint research with the National University of La Plata in Argentina, promoting the standardization of related technologies.

▶원문 기사: 펫그라운드, 중기부 팁스 선정…반려동물 질병 예측 AI 고도화 (이코노미스트, 2026. 8. 4)

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