Get to know PetBit's Developer
I, Sanaa Bhorkar, am a high school senior from the Bay Area, California. PetBit was my first project after starting to learn Python in 6th grade. My dad bought me an AdaFruit circuit Python to experiment with.
Within a few months, the pandemic hit. Roman, my friend's dog, was my walking buddy during the pandemic. After a day of walking 15,000 steps, I, along with two other friends, was curious to know how many steps Roman got, considering he has four legs. The three of us started working on a step tracker for him using an Adafruit board. Soon, we could see Roman's steps after putting up a web dashboard. And we gave this product a pretty sweet name: PetBit.
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When PetBit got an honorable mention in the ProjectCSGirls national competition, I knew I had to transform PetBit into a usable product for my community. So, I got to work.
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After surveying ~100 pet owners, I learned that 85% of people would use a pet wearable that included location, health, and behavior tracking in the same device. However, no such product was on the market. And just like that, PetBit 2.0 was born with location and health tracking based on puck.js and MFi.
PetBit has come a long way in 4 years in its technology and capability. It has over ten working prototypes, and over 20 pups have tried wearing it during field trials.
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PetBit has been an incredible learning experience not just for technology but also for entrepreneurship. PetBit's business plan won 1st place in the DECA California State competition. It also received a grant, being the first-place winner in the IdeAction Global Pitch competition conducted by LIL Venture Fund.
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Seeing this recognition and interest, I am motivated to continue building PetBit's roadmap.
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