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Pawly allows owners to interact with their pets while they are away from home.

They howl, they chew, and sometimes they leave you unpleasant surprises on the carpet. When dogs are left alone at home, it’s easy for them to get up to no good. But what if you could visit and play with them from a thousand miles away through your smartphone?

Enter Pawly, a durable digital toy that lets owners interact remotely with their pets via smartphone. Pawly was first developed by U of T Engineering student Gordon Dri (CivE 1T5), alumnus and Master of Engineering student Yunan Zhao (CompE 1T2, MEng 1T4), and their team of engineers, designers and strategists during an intense 54-hour contest called Startup Weekend: Maker Edition in Toronto.

Startup Weekend events are held across the world in cities ranging from Cape Town and Islamabad to Melbourne and beyond. Finalists from each weekend move on to a championship round called the Global Startup Battle − dominated most recently by teams with members from U of T.

Pawly had only placed second at its Startup Weekend behind Griflens, a team developing a set of interactive story beads for children. Griflens, whose roster included Helen Kula, librarian at University of Toronto Mississauga’s Institute of Management and Innovation, went on to take third place overall in the Global Startup Battle.

Pawly took the top prize.

“The Pawly team is perhaps the best example of what can be accomplished at a Startup Weekend when you combine great skill, motivation and impressive teamwork,” said Chris Eben, founding organizer of Startup Weekend Toronto.

“Their success in this significant annual competition demonstrates that Toronto’s startup community is an international powerhouse. The rest of the world should take note – Toronto is where you want to build your startup!”

Inventor Dri spoke with U of T News about the Pawly team’s experience in the global competition.

Tell us about why and how you got involved with the Global Startup Battle.

My journey began at the beginning of third year when I was provided with the choice to work for a year through the Professional Experience Year (PEY) program at U of T. I realized not one job seemed like the “perfect fit” and it was then I decided I would create my own job and work for myself. Coupled with the inspiration that past entrepreneurs (e.g., Andrew Mason, Reid Hoffman, Steve Jobs) provided me, I began my journey as an entrepreneur.

I realized that all great entrepreneurs in the past surrounded themselves with like-minded individuals and fed off their innovation and creativity. Therefore, I wanted to join a community of budding innovators and thus registered for Startup Weekend. I collaborated with a 10-person team for 54 hours to launch our startup, Pawly. We placed second in the competition for our concept and execution and qualified for the Global Startup Battle. We competed in this national competition against other teams across the globe and came out on top.

What was your experience like at Startup Weekend?

Startup Weekend was a no sleep, high stress, yet exciting marathon. I had the opportunity to work with inspirational, creative, and budding entrepreneurs whom I had never met before.

The event was held at OCADU and the theme was ‘Maker Edition,’ stressing that startups launch a hardware-related product. We were given the support of all the resources at the university including woodworking labs, laser cutting as well as the donation of 10 3-D printers by General Electric.
The weekend focused not only on building a product but also market validation, customer development and practicing LEAN Startup Methodologies. We managed to receive over 100 responses to our Google Survey and received our first sources of revenue in just 54 hours.

What’s the most important thing you learned from being part of Startup Weekend?

The most important thing that I learned from the weekend is the power that entrepreneurs have to drive the world forward. All the great innovations in the past have derived from creative entrepreneurs with a common mission to change the world. Our future is in our hands as innovators and entrepreneurs.

What did winning the Global Startup Battle mean for you and your team?

Once my team and I won the Global Startup Battle we were both surprised and excited. The success in this competition validated our concept and we immediately knew Pawly was the start of something big.
As a team we have committed ourselves to an official startup with the goal of developing Pawly and bringing it to market. The success of this competition provided us visibility which is crucial in the beginning stages of any startup. We have the luxury of approaching media, investors and potential partners with the news that our concept won the largest startup competition in the world powered by Google for Entrepreneurs.

We are currently preparing for the LAUNCH Conference in San Francisco, California held from February 24th to 26th where we will demo our prototype and hopefully attract the interests of investors and partners.

How have you found the ‘entrepreneurship’ environment at U of T?

The University of Toronto has an exceptional community for entrepreneurship from incubators like The Hatchery and Creative Destruction Labs to conferences such as Young Entrepreneurs Challenge. Although we have not engaged in the resources to date we hope to get involved and take advantage of them in the future.

What’s next for you as an entrepreneur?

I will continue working with my team to revolutionize the next generation of pet technology while completing my engineering degree. I hope to join the team full time through the Professional Experience Year program and again post-graduation. I enjoy learning about new startups and hearing about both successful and unsuccessful experiences of other entrepreneurs.

Media Contact

Fahad Pinto
Communications & Media Relations Strategist
416.978.4498