Welsh business called the ‘Trip Advisor for dogs’ is in the final of the Pitch it Valleys investment competition
A dog-friendly business that tells owners places and events where their canine companions are welcome hopes to win a £75k business investment.
Dog Furiendly, described as a ‘trip advisor for dogs’, is in the final of the Pitch it Valleys competition, which will be held on 20 November.
The competition is for Valleys-based businesses who are looking for investment. Six finalists were selected from the first round of pitches in June and will now pitch for a business investment worth up to £75k.
Adele Pember, the founder of Dog Furiendly, says that if she wins she hopes to expand the business and create new job opportunities.
Adele, who is originally from Blaenau Gwent, said she hopes to offer extra employment opportunities in the Valleys. “I’m from the Valleys and I’d love to be able to give back to the Valleys, which I hope we can do in a couple of months time when we get bigger,” she said.
The idea for Dog Furiendly occurred to Adele after she realised her dog, Charlie, was suffering from separation anxiety and loneliness.
“My weekends were spent planning life events around him – social life, date nights, holidays – and if I couldn’t bring Charlie I wouldn’t go. I think that’s a similar situation to a lot of dog owners,” she said.
After getting caught in the rain in Bute Park with Charlie, and being unable to find a place to go, Adele created a blog to list dog-friendly places in Cardiff. Dog Furiendly grew from there.
Since its founding in 2018, the business has grown to cover all of the UK and Adele has plans to expand into Ireland, France, Spain and Germany.
Adele also wants to encourage the social side to dog-owning. “Alongside Dog Furiendly we also run events to bring communities together like pub crawls, parties and themed events. The aim is to make it one big community hug.”
