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Whistle (company)

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Whistle
Company typePrivate
IndustryPet devices
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
FoundersBen Jacobs (CEO)
Kevin Lloyd (CTO)
Steven Eidelman (COO)
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, U.S.
Key people
Ben Jacobs, CEO
ProductsWhistle Dog Tracker (GPS device)
ParentMars Petcare
WebsiteOfficial website

Whistle Labs Inc. is a subsidiary of Mars Petcare headquartered in San Francisco, California. It produces and markets the Whistle GPS Pet Tracker, a device worn on a pet's collar that monitors its activity and location. In addition to pet owners, the devices have been used by veterinary researchers.

Corporate history

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The idea for Whistle grew out of their first CEO Ben Jacobs' experiences on pet-care accounts at Bain & Company, and was developed with COO Steve Eidelman while researching the pet-care industry for venture capital firm DCM.[1] They hired Kevin Lloyd as CTO and the three founded Whistle in 2012.[1][2] The company started with 20 employees and raised $6 million in a venture funding round led by DCM.[3] Other investors included the former CEO of Mars Petcare and the President of Humane Society Silicon Valley.[2]

Whistle's first product, an activity monitor for dogs that tracked their exercise, was released in 2013.[4] The company raised an additional $10 million in a Series A funding round and $15 million in Series B.[1][5] A February 2014 agreement with PetSmart placed the Whistle device in all the company's stores and led to co-marketing efforts.[6] Whistle also began working with veterinary schools to analyze the data collected from the app.[7] For example, in 2014 the Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania used data from Whistle devices for their research on chronic pain conditions in dogs;[8] and researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University have used it to study epilepsy in dogs.[9] The company also has an advisory panel of veterinarians.[2][10]

Whistle began experimenting with the SigFox internet of things network for its devices in May 2014.[11][12][13] In January 2015, the company acquired Tagg, a competing startup based in San Diego, for an undisclosed sum for its battery life and location-tracking intellectual property, and Tagg's CEO, Scott Neuberger, joined Whistle.[14] Tagg had started as a Qualcomm subsidiary in 2010 and released its tracking device one year before Whistle.[1][15] By 2015, Whistle had distributed 100,000 devices and had about 40 employees.[1]

In April 2016, Whistle was acquired by Mars Petcare, the pet product subsidiary of the food and candy bar maker Mars, for $117 million.[16]

Products

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Whistle produces and markets wearable monitoring devices for pets. The Whistle Activity Monitor, which is sometimes called a "Fitbit for dogs", tracks the duration, time, and intensity of a pet's exercise, then gives the data to users over Wi-Fi networks or to a phone app using Bluetooth.[1][16][17][18] The GPS pet tracker is for finding lost pets.[19] It also produces an alert if the pet's behavior changes, for example a reduction in sleep, indicating anxiety.[18][4]

The GPS and location tracking product was announced in May 2014.[20][21] An integration with Jawbone Up that May allowed Jawbone users to compare their exercise to their dog's in the same app.[12] In February 2017, Whistle 3 was introduced. It is half the size of prior models and intended for smaller dogs or cats.[22]

Whistle started with a model called Whistle 3. They released Whistle GO in 2019. Whistle GO is an earlier version of the Whistle brand but is an improvement of the Whistle 3. Its main features are GPS locations tracking, and health and fitness monitoring. Whistle GO has an improved battery life and provides more health information than its previous model.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Wells, Georgia (January 29, 2015). "Doggy Fitness Tracker Whistle Raises $15 Million, Acquires Tagg". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Lapowsky, Issie (June 5, 2013). "This Start-up Uses Data to Keep Your Dog Healthy". Inc.
  3. ^ Kelly, Heather (June 5, 2013). "New tech tools help keep Fido fit". CNN. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Bensinger, Greg (June 4, 2013). "Startup Hopes to Boost Pooches' Health Through Their Collars". WSJ. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  5. ^ Morris, Chris (February 25, 2015). "Want to track (or stalk) your pet? Data and gadgets will do it". Fortune. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  6. ^ Empson, Rip (February 27, 2014). "One Week With Whistle's New Activity Tracker For Dogs". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  7. ^ Fitchard, Kevin (June 5, 2013). "The quantified pup: Whistle wants to create the world's largest database on dog behavior". Gigaom. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  8. ^ Tam, Donna (February 27, 2014). "Whistle, the Fitbit for dogs, makes push into mainstream". CNET. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  9. ^ Lee, Ellen (July 21, 2015). "Review: The Whistle Dog Monitor". Spectrum. IEEE. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  10. ^ "Whistle: the internet of everything goes to the dogs". Engadget. June 5, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  11. ^ Fitchard, Kevin (January 29, 2015). "Connected canine outfit Whistle buys competitor Tagg, raises $15M". Gigaom. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  12. ^ a b Fitchard, Kevin (May 21, 2014). "Whistle straps its connected dog collar onto Sigfox's new internet of things network". Gigaom. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  13. ^ Hardawar, Devindra (May 21, 2014). "Whistle's GPS collar will track your dog using a new network for the Internet of things". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  14. ^ Wilson, Sarah Logan (December 7, 2016). "Best Dog Activity Monitor: Fitbark vs Tagg vs Whistle". Canine Journal. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  15. ^ Stern, Joanna (June 5, 2013). "'Smart Collar' Tracks Your Dog". ABC News. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  16. ^ a b Zaleski, Olivia (April 1, 2016). "Pet Food Maker Mars Spends $117 Million to Acquire Whistle's 'Fitbit for Dogs'". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  17. ^ Duffy, Jill (February 27, 2014). "Whistle Activity Monitor (for Dogs)". PC Magazine. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  18. ^ a b Bonnington, Christina (June 5, 2013). "Help Fido Stay Fit With a New Activity Tracker for Dogs". WIRED. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  19. ^ Griffith, Eric (April 20, 2016). "Whistle GPS Pet Tracker". PCMAG. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  20. ^ Duffy, Jill (May 21, 2014). "Whistle Dog Activity Tracker Adds GPS Location Finder". PC Magazine. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  21. ^ Statt, Nick (May 21, 2014). "Find my dog: Whistle bringing GPS to next-gen pet wearable". CNET. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  22. ^ Grunin, Lori (December 1, 2016). "Whistle's pet tracker goes to the (smaller) dogs at CES 2017". CNET. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  23. ^ "Whistle Dog Tracker Review". Technobark. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
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