This Techie Developed An App That Helps Stray Animals Find A Home

While technology has seen a massive proliferation in recent days, mobile applications have contributed to its growth majorly, which gets accumulated in the success story of the technology archive. One such among them is the tale of techie Yash Sheth, who has used technology to the zenith, and has been creating milestones.

Talking to Express Computer’s Gairika Mitra, Sheth spills the beans on his entrepreneurial journey. Edited excerpts:

Your app ‘Let It Wag’ has a 4.4 rating on PlayStore. How do you think technology has helped you reach this milestone?

I believe rating is a number calculated by some algorithm that someone has developed. Technology has had a tremendous impact in our daily lives and made things very easy and convenient for us. Coming from a tech background I know the wonders and the limitations of a technology. So i decided to ride on my knowledge and network to build an app that would connect all the animal lovers in real time and get all the stakeholders involved to help animals. Initially people were hesitant to use and download another app but once they downloaded and used it, they could experience the power of tech and get more people on board to use the app. So , the app users are our spokes person who help us to grow more and more and help more and more animals.

What is the latest form of tech that Let It Wag has adopted and how has it led your business to scale up?

We are currently shifting our tech to the latest hybrid technology which enables us to make the full version app available on Android and iOS device.

What is the core idea of ‘Let it Wag’ and how has it been solving the problem of rescuing stray animals?

The core idea is to build a holistic platform and get all the stakeholders involved in animal welfare. We have built a technology to connect with animal lovers in real time so that the animal could receive help as soon as possible. Apart from rescue we also have a community wall (forum) which people can use for discussion of their problems. 

Apart from rescue, the app also helps in adoption of animals nearby, raising funds for stray animals, finding foster parents,and a directory of Vets, NGO’s, Ambulance, Vet chemist,etc.

Talking about the stiff competition outside, what is the unique approach that ‘Let It Wag’ has adopted to differentiate itself?

I just love the competition. It actually gets out the best in you, and it makes you think more and more about your product and how can you differentiate everytime from the competition. Having said that, we do not have a direct competition across the globe as we are first of its kind to launch such app but there are some indirect competitors in the market who can compete with us. I think my biggest competitor would be Facebook if it decided to do this work. There is one person in US who is trying to build a similar kind of app but again both are catering to different markets and the solution to offer is different with some overlapping solutions between us.

Coming to the financial perspective, are you looking forward to raising funding, in case you haven’t already?

Currently we are bootstrapped and using our savings to run the app. We are looking to raise 250K USD to 500K USD to build a full time development team and make the app available on a global level.

Tell us about your immediate and long term milestones.

Currently, Let it Wag is a family of approx 12.5K animal lovers across India who are a part of Let it Wag army. This army has helped approx 4K animals and birds across India and have helped to get permanent home to 30+ animals. 

I see ‘Let it Wag’ as a global platform for anything and everything related to animals. 

Vision: Our vision is to make Let it Wag a go to platform for anything and everything related to animals

Mission: We are on a mission to make a global army of million animal lovers across the globe who would make this world better for animals to live.

Lastly, is there a secret sauce to entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is a journey and not a one time thing. Once you have that entrepreneurial bug or tasted entrepreneurship, that bug/taste will last with you till your last breath. 

Image Courtesy: Business World