Experiences designed around the human voice will fundamentally improve the way people use technology. The Alexa Fund—named for Alexa, the cloud-based voice service that powers Amazon Echo—provides up to $100 million in investments to fuel voice technology innovation from developers, manufacturers, and start-ups of all sizes.

Today we announced that Petnet is the latest recipient of funding from the Alexa Fund. Petnet is the creator of the SmartFeeder, an app-enabled intelligent feeding appliance, which allows pet owners to manage and tailor feeding times and portions to ensure overall health and well-being. The SmartFeeder integrates with pet food vendors to automate replenishment and intelligently helps pet owners stay aware of their pet’s feeding habits. The smart appliance keeps owners informed of proper feeding portions and delivers insights to them about compatible ingredients specific to their pet’s age, weight and level of activity.

Petnet is building skills for Alexa enabling Echo customers to control their SmartFeeder connected appliance using only voice commands to inquire about feedings, so they can simply ask: “Alexa, how much has Max eaten today?” Petnet will also work to integrate with the Alexa Voice Service. Learn more about Petnet at www.petnet.io.  

“We’re thrilled to be working with Amazon and the Alexa Fund to bring voice innovation to smart pet feeding,” said Carlos Herrera, CEO, Petnet. “We believe that smarter feeding improves your pet's health, and Petnet will help you make intelligent decisions when it comes to your pet. We’re looking forward to making this process even better with Alexa by building new skills and integrating with the Alexa Voice Service.”

Why Work With the Alexa Fund?

Petnet joins nine previously funded companies: Musaic, Rachio, Orange Chef, Scout Alarm, Garageio, Toymail, Dragon Innovation, MARA, and Mojio. Beyond financial support, the Alexa Fund builds on Amazon’s track record of helping innovative individuals grow ideas into successful products and businesses. With established business and technology expertise, Amazon can help take ideas from initial concept to the marketplace by offering tools such as early access to SDK capabilities, hands-on development support for hardware or software, enhanced marketing support on Amazon.com, placement at Amazon showcase events, membership in AWS Activate, and more. Tell us about your idea.

It’s Easy to Get Started

You may also want to check out these additional Alexa developer resources:

Order Echo - Amazon.com Page
Alexa Skills Kit (ASK)
Alexa Voice Service (AVS)
Alexa Fund
Alexa Developer Forums
Getting Started with the Alexa Skills Kit
Alexa Skills Kit Voice Design Handbook
Create a developer account on the Amazon Appstore

-Dave (TheDaveDev)