With protests around the country bringing renewed focus on police departments, a recently created local startup is helping a specific group of law enforcement members – K9 and mounted patrol animals.
Animal Cloud Device Connectivity, a Fort Worth-based startup that launched in April, is looking to use a vital monitoring platform to help keep law enforcement animals safe and healthy in the line of duty.
“Law enforcement seemed like a great opportunity… they would be the early adopters of this because they invest a lot in their animals, more than a consumer would,” co-founder and VP Chris Matos told NTX Inno. “One big thing that I really want to strive for is this is meant to be a proactive solution for police officers… this is just one thing that they wouldn’t have to worry about.”
Being military veterans themselves, co-founders Matos and Dylan Jones, who also serves as president, began looking at technology created by the U.S. Air Force Research Lab to commercialize and base their company around. The technology they landed on was the BATDOKTM app, which was originally designed to help military field medics monitor soldiers' vitals and track the care they received, along with any important trends. Six other companies are working to commercialize the BATDOKTM technology, although Animal Cloud is the only one looking to apply it to animals.
The product works through a wearable wireless device that tracks things like heart rate, blood oxygen levels and blood pressure. Information is uploaded to a platform that can be accessed on smart devices, where it can be monitored and shared with other medical workers.
“When we found it, it just seemed like a perfect opportunity and just being veterans, I think we were able to understand the market opportunity to commercialize the platform,” Jones said.
Animal Cloud is bringing that wartime tech to animals, with a licensing agreement signed in May. The process works much the same, however law enforcement animals have some other care needs that the company is planning to help with. Matos said police K9s are largely monitored observationally and taken care of by their handlers, which can be difficult, especially in dangerous environments. In addition, he said horses are difficult to care for and trips to the vet are stressful to the animal. The startup’s tech will allow departments to cut down on the need for unnecessary visits.
“Something we want to provide is just giving a better overview of their health and catch things before they go wrong and also just save time for these officers because when they’ve got a sick animal, they don’t just clock out of their shift, they’ve got to stay there and nurse the animal, they’ve got to help the animal,” Jones said.
As it grows, Animal Cloud is planning to re-introduce the technology to the military to help them monitor the vital care of animals in their organization. In addition, the company is looking to use it to help the USDA and the cattle industry track diseases and pathogens in their herds.
The four-person Animal Cloud team is currently based out of TCU’s Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which is supporting the company through its early-stage CREATE seed fund accelerator program.
As the company grows, the team plans to pursue other SBIR grant and private investment options. It is also looking at future product development and partnerships. Though the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the company’s launch, by preventing travel to pitch competitions around the country – something which Matos and Jones say they love – the pair said TCU and Fort Worth as a whole have been great to their young startup, offering a tight-knit but welcoming community.
“I think [Covid-19] opened my eyes to the trend of how we’re moving to an online world, and if we can facilitate the way that medical information and documentation is shared as we go into a more socially distant world, that’s critical,” Jones said. “We’re really looking for solutions of how we can support the new normal and how we’re living these days.”
Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly attributed the co-founders' titles. Chris Matos serves as the company's VP, while Dylan Jones is the company's president.
