Think Wisdom comes with Age? Devanshi Shah of Petkonnect will prove you wrong. Young entrepreneur Devanshi Shah who is breaking societal norms and successfully leading a pet care business which requires love, care and passion. It isn’t just about funding the start-up which is generally challenging. Devanshi shah’s biggest struggle was internal. Was it reckless to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams or should she have seeked a steady paycheck? In the end, she took the leap and decided she wants to commit to the cause of Animal welfare. After completing her studies from London, coming back to Mumbai and starting her own business was not an easy decision for Devanshi. The driving force behind the founding of Petkonnect was Devanshi Shah’s endearment for the pet society, and the inspiration she drew from losing her precious pup Hazel. Devanshi was questioned at every step during the launching phase of Petkonnect. Like every other young woman Devanshi Shah also got implications from the society pointing out the difficulty in managing a business venture after starting a family without any work life balance, or the fact that entrepreneurship after completing professional qualifications, especially in such an unorganized sector, is impulsive, or that PetKonnect could never be a full-time business, as it is the pursuit of a mere hobby. Being a woman entrepreneur is burdensome and a herculean task for young women.
Despite these hurdles Devanshi Shah started proceeding with gumption and unbridled enthusiasm to bring a change for the pet community in India. Devanshi Shah believes a pet parent should never lose their pet due to lack of availability of resources or infrastructure, especially concerning healthcare.
Today Devanshi Shah is the founder of Petkonnect which is the India’s most comprehensive pet and animal services’ portal, Devanshi Shah develops and leads corporate strategy, planning and overall execution on behalf of the brand. The thrust of her mandate is ensuring her company is a customer- focussed brand which is user friendly and provides clients with top-of-the-line in-class services in the pet and animal-care sector.
In conversation with Forbes, young and dynamic entrepreneur Devanshi Shah talks about her own journey of becoming an entrepreneur at such young age. "While I felt helpless in my feeble attempts to save my own pet, I decided to channelize my grief through PetKonnect”.
Devanshi Shah witnessed an unfortunate turn of events in 2017 when she lost her Havanese pup hazel. The sorrow she felt from Hazel’s passing lead to the creation of PetKonnect.
Devanshi Shah Manifests a fine equilibrium of a mature business mindset, fortified by the exuberance of youth, Devanshi shah draws inspiration from her diverse experiences in both the financial and legal services’ sectors. Devanshi shah refined her skillset by working in a corporate firm and family business for a couple of years.
Pet parenting is challenging at every step, especially with busy schedules that make it difficult to do everything by ourselves. With Petkonnect pet-parents can easily overcome the struggle of finding verified service providers, exploring a host of reliable information regarding pet-care, and finding friends for their beloved pets in their locality, to set up play dates. In addition, it also provides services in which allows pet owners to create a pet profile for complete health-care management of the pet. Not only can users store their pets’ medical records and prescriptions online, but also receive recommendations and reminders on necessary vaccinations. This section also allows pet owners to register their pets with government authorities.
In-order to make PetKonnect a holistic and end-to-end solution for pet parents, the PetKonnect team is currently working towards introducing pet-related products as well. PetKonnect is possibly the only startup in the country that has and continues to innovate the way we provide access to healthcare and emergency services to not only pets but also stray animals. It is about time animals in India were treated in a humane way, and this is our mission. In the few months since the launch, the PetKonnect community has had a positive impact on the lives of over 1000 animals and this number continues to grow exponentially.
PetKonnect also creates jobs for the many service providers in this sector by giving them access to a large number of pet parents through the platform. Additionally, to strengthen their commitment towards the animal community, PetKonnect is now working on launching India’s most innovative help line that will connect NGO’s across the country resulting in some phenomenal benefits for stray animals.
Devanshi Shah feels Saving even a single life and enabling pet parents to give their pets the lives they deserve would be a reward big enough for her to be passionately invested in PetKonnect.
During the pandemic, Devanshi Shah’s Petkonnect also launched a 24 hour vet-on-callservice to make sure pet parents get the help they need during those trying times.Devanshi thinks that Indians are not that acquainted with animal rights and laws concerning animal welfare. The legal system in India is plagued by pending cases related to animal rights. She thinks that with a steady increase in the number of pets adopted annually, more people have begun to spread awareness at the grassroots level.
Speaking of their future visions, Devanshi says, “I would like to make PetKonnect India’s premier, and the most accessible, one-stop solution, and hassle-free service provider for all kinds of pets and animals. Devanshi shah swears by the motto of “love beyond words' ' In her bid to reach a wider audience, this year, Devanshi Shah is looking to make the services available across the country.
