Even Animals Bring Out Innovation In Silicon Valley

MILPITAS, CA -- In the land built on innovation, it's only fitting to give a vote of confidence to the South Bay's animal rescue operation.

The Humane Society Silicon Valley has been selected as a wildcard contender in the Petco Foundation’s 2019 Innovation Showdown and needs your help. The nonprofit organization is wants to become the third contestant competing for $450,000 in lifesaving funds for its animals. As one of seven organizations with an idea in the wildcard voting round, Humane Society Silicon Valley is encouraging the public to vote for its animal welfare idea at petcofoundation.org/showdow through March 16.

The organization with the most votes will win a spot to pitch the idea live on stage to the innovation investors at this year’s Humane Society of the United States Animal Care Expo scheduled in New Orleans on April 15.

The Humane Society Silicon Valley is proposing a new mobile application called "Foster Faster" that's designed to expedite placement of animals into foster homes and free up shelter space and provide critical care for those with special needs.

Shelters can easily share pictures and information about arriving animals to all their foster volunteers. Those who are apt to foster animals can easily see, choose and schedule adoption of them with a quick swipe. HSSV believes the technology will increase adoption rates by 30 percent. The idea is to have the technology used by other shelters around the country.

“In the business of saving animal lives, innovation is critical,” Petco Foundation President Susanne Kogut said. “We are thrilled to partner with the Innovation Investors from the nation’s top animal welfare organizations to be the catalyst for change and reward organizations for their lifesaving innovation.”

Innovation Showdown is a collaborative project bringing the nation’s top animal welfare organizations together to invest in animal lifesaving innovation. Modeled after Shark Tank, participants seeking funding to save animal lives will present their best lifesaving animal welfare ideas on stage to the Innovation Investors. Leaders and representatives from the Annenberg Foundation, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, The Jackson Galaxy Project, Maddie's Fund, Mary Jo & Hank Greenberg Animal Welfare Foundation, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, the Petco Foundation and the WaterShed Animal Fund will be on hand.

Each presentation will consist of a video, brief pitch and a question-and-answer session from the investors. The Innovation Investors will then collectively agree on the amount of investment to grant each of the three organizations pitching their ideas live on stage. HSSV is vying for the third finalist spot.

The Innovation Showdown aspires to encourage ideas that will change the landscape of animal welfare.

For more information about Humane Society Silicon Valley, visit hssv.org. For more on the Petco Foundation, visit www.petcofoundation.org.