For Investors
Investor Brief
A condensed view of the opportunity, the team, and what we're asking for.
Overview
Pawvlov turns the connected-pet category on its head: instead of a treat-camera built to entertain a bored dog, it is an autonomous, floor-standing device that runs the vet-gold-standard noise-desensitization protocol for the 36M US dogs with storm and firework anxiety. It is built for the guilt-ridden owner who has tried a ThunderShirt, flinched at trazodone, and can't afford a $2,100 behaviorist who won't come at 3am anyway. Why now: sub-$4 ESP32-S3 SoCs run a 4-class dog-pose classifier on-device in 2025-26, and the peer-reviewed desensitization + counter-conditioning literature is finally strong enough to defend a clinical claim. Why us: the mechanism is the physical inverse of the incumbents — a silent <40 dB auger, a reachable floor tray, and a fail-closed calm-window gate that structurally cannot reward a fear state, the exact failure that makes a Furbo iatrogenic for an anxious dog.
Pawvlov is a hybrid product — a floor-standing autonomous desensitization device plus a companion app, web dashboard, and $9.99/mo subscription — for the 36M US dogs with storm/firework anxiety and their guilt-ridden owners. It reframes the connected-pet category from engagement to therapy: where Furbo/Petcube fling treats with a loud click that startles anxious dogs (iatrogenic for the exact ICP), Pawvlov delivers a single silent (<40 dB) treat into a reachable floor tray ONLY inside a verified calm window, fail-closed and firmware-locked so it can never reward fear. The differentiation wedge is being the physical and behavioral inverse of the incumbent treat-camera. Launch is a single M SKU at $249 (S/L deferred to v2) — a deliberate capital de-risk that redirects ~$70K from three-SKU tooling to the risks that actually gate existence: classifier validation, BIPA-safe on-device architecture, and a real CAC budget. The brief is written to be honest about the pe-firm memo's three unresolved fatal risks (iatrogenic self-exposure, timeline/CAC realism, BIPA), which are surfaced on /inside and /process rather than hidden.
Capital Ask
Raise $245,000 — 12-15 months to Phase 4 / Series A metrics. Assumption
Looking For
A hardware operator + a clinical credibility partner. Capital plus a co-founder or lead advisor who has taken a consumer-electronics device from prototype through FCC/UL to a DTC launch, ideally with Shenzhen/PCBA relationships, alongside a DACVB behaviorist willing to anchor the SAB.
Current Status
Completed (as of 2026-07-10)
- ✓ PE evaluation complete (routing FUND, pe_score 7.1; the pe-firm memo itself scored 45/100 PASS with 3 unresolved fatal risks — disclosed on /process)
- ✓ Product design + electrical spec complete (single M-SKU, on-device architecture, <40 dB auger, floor-reachable tray)
- ✓ Competitive research + honesty flags complete
- ✓ POC demo site built and live at pawvlov3.nltlabs.ai
Pending
- ○ Phase 1 classifier-validation study (the gate to everything downstream)
- ○ Seed round ($245K, right-sized to include CAC + data + privacy)
- ○ SAB formation + FCC/UL/privacy engagement
TAM
SourcedSAM
ModeledY2 ARR (SOM)
ModeledCapital ask
Modeled