Help us calm anxious dogs with our harness that replicates the feeling of touch.
By Fiona Taimana
PledgeMe.Project
Technology,
NZ $5,054 pledged
25 people pledged
Closed
NZ $5,000 minimum target
This campaign was successful and closed on 12/04/2024 at 9:00 AM.
Make a PledgeAbout
Help Us Calm Anxious Dogs With Our Harness That Replicates The Feeling Of Touch.
Project 2024-03-07 11:32:40 +1300
Does your dog look distressed when you look like you might be leaving them?
Does your neighbour's dog bark every time they leave them alone in the house?
Or maybe thunder or fireworks cause them to hide?
These are signs of dog anxiety - one in five dogs can experience this from time to time.
Kia ora, I am Fiona Taimana the CEO and co-founder of Korawai, with my husband John.
Like many other people, I saw COVID lockdown as a chance to get a puppy. We welcomed a beautiful toy poodle into our home. All was well until the travel restrictions eased and then we discovered she starts shaking when we travel more than 60kms an hour, I am not sure who was more worked - up her or me?
Here is our fabulous toy poodle - Korra.
Our Solution
Over the last four years we have been developing our pet calming garment with our research engineer and consultant vet behaviorist.
We are proud to say we have a prototype harness that has show positive signs helping small dogs when traveling.
We are wanting to undertake more research with our Vet to gather more data on different dog breeds and sizes.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We are seeking to create a community of pet lovers looking to help their dogs, by either:
- Pre-ordering our harness to help us demonstrate there is demand for this kind of anxiety product, i.e. we can be commercially viable. This will assist us in securing more funding.
- Other contributions will go towards more data gathering and understanding of how the harness works on different dog sizes, and in a variety of anxiety scenarios. eg separation anxiety.
Please note - while initial findings are very positive we have a minimum of six months to get to a final professional product to deliver to you. There is some secrecy around the look and feel of the garment to protect the intellectual property (design and tech) so that is why there are not a lot of pictures right now.
About our tech.
The technology behind our pet harness was developed in the Auckland Bioengineering Institute by our research engineer, Sachith as part of his PhD.
I met Sachith when I was working on my masters in Commercialisation & Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland, specialising in the science and technology industries.
John and I then created our company Korawai, through our learnings with the Kōkiri Business Accelerator in 2021.
How does it work?
The technology works to replicate the feeling of touch in a non-invasive way, powered by a rechargeable battery.(NB: It does NOT use shock methodology)
The tech sits inside a specially designed dog harness and is activated by the owner just prior to the dog being exposed to the distressing situation (where possible).
We have worked closely with our Vet behaviourist - Dr Elsa Flint from Animals with Attitude.
Dr Flint is researching the impact of our harness on dogs' anxiety in a number of settings so we learn how it works on all dogs' shapes and sizes.
Dr Flint works as a veterinarian in small animal practice whilst also running the Animals with Attitude behaviour clinic. She is co-author of several books on animal behaviour and management and has published scientific papers in the field of animal behaviour. Dr Flint has an MSc (hons) in Behavioural Zoology, a Bachelor of Veterinary Science, and Membership of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in animal behaviour. She has a PhD in Veterinary Science. The subject of her research was the social significance of barking in dogs. Dr Flint is also a Certified Fear Free Professional.
Support we’ve had so far
We have had funding from NZ’s innovation agency - Callaghan Innovation, for our team and the research and development for our dog harness.
We were also selected for NZ’s only Māori accelerator programme - Kōkiri and completed the programme in 2021.
Our vision
Our vision stems from a multi-dimensional perspective which comes from the Māori kaupapa led approach – the spirit, the whanau, the relationships, the care.
“Aotearoa and Māori is all about being authentic and the kaitiakitanga around protecting our place. We wish to create an international connectedness with Korawai.”
Part of our goal is to inspire rangatahi into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and global business.
Fiona mentors at the Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland in their start-up programmes.
Meet our team
About our name: Korawai
Korowai may be a familiar word to some of you as the Māori word for cloak, woven from the feathers of native birds in New Zealand.
We wanted to create a company providing technology that creates comfort through connectivity, to add in that “spark” to a garment - “kora” in Māori.
Comments
Updates
Hey! Thanks for checking out this project.
We haven't made any updates yet, follow us if you want to be notified when we do.
Pledgers 25
11/04/2024 at 9:23pm
11/04/2024 at 4:53pm
"Good Luck on your Journey Fi! Excited to see what The Niko becomes :)"
11/04/2024 at 1:52pm
"Goodluck! We love dogs and have an anxious cat ourselves ♥️"
10/04/2024 at 9:12pm
"So thrilled this will be a reality "
10/04/2024 at 8:31pm
"Such a great initiative and worthy initiative Fiona and JT. "
10/04/2024 at 5:04pm
"I love the idea, hope my pledge helps! would buy one for my dog if he was still around."
10/04/2024 at 11:49am
"Go Fi! Love to help your dream. Shaz "
08/04/2024 at 6:02pm
"So proud of you all for your continued dedication to this kaupapa - always here to blow wind into your sales, your favourite Aunty"
03/04/2024 at 10:20pm
28/03/2024 at 12:27pm
"Hi Fiona. Great idea and I look forward to it being launched around the world. Regards Greg"
22/03/2024 at 12:14am
"KA MAU TE WEHI !! Super excited for the Korawai Whanau. Baxter is actually a perfect candidate for this tech, so excited for us too Bring it on!! "
21/03/2024 at 9:36am
20/03/2024 at 5:19pm
"So excited to see this come to fruition! Congratulations!"
18/03/2024 at 8:12pm
"Very excited Team Taimana xxxxxxx"
17/03/2024 at 6:34pm
"Very interested in managing mild separation anxiety for large dog."
16/03/2024 at 11:46pm
16/03/2024 at 7:13pm
"Hey Fi & JT - v.keen to support the next stage of the business!"
15/03/2024 at 3:24am
14/03/2024 at 8:31am
"Congratulation on winning the best pitch at the #FundFemaleFounders event."
13/03/2024 at 2:31pm
12/03/2024 at 6:41pm
"This is the #FundFemaleFounders event pledge - well done!"
12/03/2024 at 6:31pm
12/03/2024 at 6:29pm
"Good luck John"
12/03/2024 at 6:08pm
"So needed. My lovely dog past away, but wish you all the best for the future."
12/03/2024 at 5:57pm
Followers 1
Followers of Help us calm anxious dogs with our harness that replicates the feeling of touch.
Help Us Calm Anxious Dogs With Our Harness That Replicates The Feeling Of Touch.
Project 2024-03-07 11:32:40 +1300
Does your dog look distressed when you look like you might be leaving them?
Does your neighbour's dog bark every time they leave them alone in the house?
Or maybe thunder or fireworks cause them to hide?
These are signs of dog anxiety - one in five dogs can experience this from time to time.
Kia ora, I am Fiona Taimana the CEO and co-founder of Korawai, with my husband John.
Like many other people, I saw COVID lockdown as a chance to get a puppy. We welcomed a beautiful toy poodle into our home. All was well until the travel restrictions eased and then we discovered she starts shaking when we travel more than 60kms an hour, I am not sure who was more worked - up her or me?
Here is our fabulous toy poodle - Korra.
Our Solution
Over the last four years we have been developing our pet calming garment with our research engineer and consultant vet behaviorist.
We are proud to say we have a prototype harness that has show positive signs helping small dogs when traveling.
We are wanting to undertake more research with our Vet to gather more data on different dog breeds and sizes.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We are seeking to create a community of pet lovers looking to help their dogs, by either:
- Pre-ordering our harness to help us demonstrate there is demand for this kind of anxiety product, i.e. we can be commercially viable. This will assist us in securing more funding.
- Other contributions will go towards more data gathering and understanding of how the harness works on different dog sizes, and in a variety of anxiety scenarios. eg separation anxiety.
Please note - while initial findings are very positive we have a minimum of six months to get to a final professional product to deliver to you. There is some secrecy around the look and feel of the garment to protect the intellectual property (design and tech) so that is why there are not a lot of pictures right now.
About our tech.
The technology behind our pet harness was developed in the Auckland Bioengineering Institute by our research engineer, Sachith as part of his PhD.
I met Sachith when I was working on my masters in Commercialisation & Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland, specialising in the science and technology industries.
John and I then created our company Korawai, through our learnings with the Kōkiri Business Accelerator in 2021.
How does it work?
The technology works to replicate the feeling of touch in a non-invasive way, powered by a rechargeable battery.(NB: It does NOT use shock methodology)
The tech sits inside a specially designed dog harness and is activated by the owner just prior to the dog being exposed to the distressing situation (where possible).
We have worked closely with our Vet behaviourist - Dr Elsa Flint from Animals with Attitude.
Dr Flint is researching the impact of our harness on dogs' anxiety in a number of settings so we learn how it works on all dogs' shapes and sizes.
Dr Flint works as a veterinarian in small animal practice whilst also running the Animals with Attitude behaviour clinic. She is co-author of several books on animal behaviour and management and has published scientific papers in the field of animal behaviour. Dr Flint has an MSc (hons) in Behavioural Zoology, a Bachelor of Veterinary Science, and Membership of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in animal behaviour. She has a PhD in Veterinary Science. The subject of her research was the social significance of barking in dogs. Dr Flint is also a Certified Fear Free Professional.
Support we’ve had so far
We have had funding from NZ’s innovation agency - Callaghan Innovation, for our team and the research and development for our dog harness.
We were also selected for NZ’s only Māori accelerator programme - Kōkiri and completed the programme in 2021.
Our vision
Our vision stems from a multi-dimensional perspective which comes from the Māori kaupapa led approach – the spirit, the whanau, the relationships, the care.
“Aotearoa and Māori is all about being authentic and the kaitiakitanga around protecting our place. We wish to create an international connectedness with Korawai.”
Part of our goal is to inspire rangatahi into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and global business.
Fiona mentors at the Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland in their start-up programmes.
Meet our team
About our name: Korawai
Korowai may be a familiar word to some of you as the Māori word for cloak, woven from the feathers of native birds in New Zealand.
We wanted to create a company providing technology that creates comfort through connectivity, to add in that “spark” to a garment - “kora” in Māori.
Comments
Hey! Thanks for checking out this project.
We haven't made any updates yet, follow us if you want to be notified when we do.
11/04/2024 at 9:23pm
11/04/2024 at 4:53pm
"Good Luck on your Journey Fi! Excited to see what The Niko becomes :)"
11/04/2024 at 1:52pm
"Goodluck! We love dogs and have an anxious cat ourselves ♥️"
10/04/2024 at 9:12pm
"So thrilled this will be a reality "
10/04/2024 at 8:31pm
"Such a great initiative and worthy initiative Fiona and JT. "
10/04/2024 at 5:04pm
"I love the idea, hope my pledge helps! would buy one for my dog if he was still around."
10/04/2024 at 11:49am
"Go Fi! Love to help your dream. Shaz "
08/04/2024 at 6:02pm
"So proud of you all for your continued dedication to this kaupapa - always here to blow wind into your sales, your favourite Aunty"
03/04/2024 at 10:20pm
28/03/2024 at 12:27pm
"Hi Fiona. Great idea and I look forward to it being launched around the world. Regards Greg"
22/03/2024 at 12:14am
"KA MAU TE WEHI !! Super excited for the Korawai Whanau. Baxter is actually a perfect candidate for this tech, so excited for us too Bring it on!! "
21/03/2024 at 9:36am
20/03/2024 at 5:19pm
"So excited to see this come to fruition! Congratulations!"
18/03/2024 at 8:12pm
"Very excited Team Taimana xxxxxxx"
17/03/2024 at 6:34pm
"Very interested in managing mild separation anxiety for large dog."
16/03/2024 at 11:46pm
16/03/2024 at 7:13pm
"Hey Fi & JT - v.keen to support the next stage of the business!"
15/03/2024 at 3:24am
14/03/2024 at 8:31am
"Congratulation on winning the best pitch at the #FundFemaleFounders event."
13/03/2024 at 2:31pm
12/03/2024 at 6:41pm
"This is the #FundFemaleFounders event pledge - well done!"
12/03/2024 at 6:31pm
12/03/2024 at 6:29pm
"Good luck John"
12/03/2024 at 6:08pm
"So needed. My lovely dog past away, but wish you all the best for the future."