The idea behind HappyPaws is an open platform that provides pet owners power over their pets’ medical records. It would give pet owners a better overview of their animals’ medical histories, from previous visits to the vet to the vaccination status, and allow information to be shared with other users.

“Winning the Flemingsberg Science Award means a lot to us, and it motivates us to continue our work. The award also serves as a validation of our idea,” says Anjali Singh, who is developing HappyPaws together with her partner Sanjiv Kumar.

A friend’s experiences triggered the idea
Anjali got the idea for HappyPaws when her friend Hugo, who moved to Stockholm from Italy with his dog Pluto. At each visit to the vet, and in contacts with insurance companies, Hugo was repeatedly required to provide details about his dog’s vaccination status, allergies and the like. Anjali realized that an open system that collected all relevant data and made it shareable would make this process a lot easier.
The plan is to make it possible for pet owners and vets to upload information to
the platform. The ultimate aim is to create an open journal solution in which it is easy to share information.
As a trained vet, Sanjiv immediately saw the potential of the idea.
“When I was a vet, I had the same problem. But at the time, the technology didn’t exist to create a system like HappyPaws. Now we have the opportunity to create a solution that makes life easier for vets and pet owners,” says Sanjiv, who now works as a researcher at Örebro University.
The couple is now designing a prototype to develop the system with the goal of launching a pilot version by 2023.

“We’ve conducted interviews with vets and pet owners to get a better understanding of their needs. We discovered that there is also a need among pet owners to get in touch with local vets,” says Anjali.
So, in its next stage of development, HappyPaws will connect the two groups and enable users to search for and book appointments with vets. In addition, pet owners will be able to leave reviews of vet visits and leave references for other users. The platform can also be opened to other service providers that offer various animal care products and services.
As winners of the Flemingsberg Science Award, the HappyPaws project receives SEK 5,000 and access to a free office space for three months.
“Having access to office space at Flemingsberg Science will mean a lot for the development of our idea,” says Anjali.