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Purina Awards $125,000 to Five U.S.-Based Pet Startups through 2025 Pet Care Innovation Prize

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Winning startups across the pet industry – from veterinary care to treats and e-commerce – will compete for an additional $25,000 Grand Prize in March

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, five pet care startups from across the country have been named finalists in the ninth annual Pet Care Innovation Prize powered by Purina. Each finalist – which represent startups across the entire pet care spectrum – will receive $25,000 and mentorship support from Purina, a global leader in pet care, as the startups work to scale their businesses in the growing $324.19 billion* global pet care industry.

The 2025 Pet Care Innovation Prize Winners were selected from nearly 150 applicants from around the world. This year’s winners are: 

VEA: Based in Alexandria, Va., VEA is an AI-driven platform designed to predict disease, generate diagnostic plans and support nutrition for longevity. VEA also aims to solve workflow and documentation challenges for clinical staff, reducing the number of clicks it takes to complete exams and enabling veterinary teams to focus more on patient care.Maven: New York-based Maven is the first vet-recommended health sensor capable of continuously monitoring pets’ well-being and identifying early, clinically relevant changes. With these insights, pet owners and clinic teams can diagnose issues sooner and treat more effectively, helping pets live healthier, happier lives.Ten Lives: San Francisco-based Ten Lives produces the cleanest animal proteins for cats. Using microbes to convert sugar to protein, Ten Lives develops the same proteins naturally found in prey such as rabbit, fish and lamb, made without animals in human-grade precision fermentation facilities.ShopDot Pet: Based in Missoula, Mont., ShopDot Pet is a platform that allows neighborhood pet care providers such as groomers, trainers and vets to generate additional revenue by easily selling pet essentials without the heavy costs of inventory or shipping. ShopDot Pet enables pet service businesses and great pet brands to collaborate and sell more together.Yak9 Chews: Based in Austin, Tex., Yak9 Chews is an award-winning premium pet brand dedicated to crafting all-natural, long-lasting cheese chews for dogs, made from simple, real and ethically sourced ingredients.

In addition to the $25,000 in non-dilutive prize money, each of the five startup winners also receives mentorship from the Pet Care Innovation team at Purina and Active Capital, as well as the opportunity to participate in an accelerator boot camp at Purina’s headquarters in St. Louis, MO, which features sessions with Purina’s top pet experts and influential voices across the pet care industry.

“At Purina, our commitment to enriching the lives of pets and their people is strengthened through collaboration with innovative startups, such as the incredible cohort of this year’s Pet Care Innovation Prize finalists,” said Patrick Mullen, co-lead of Purina’s 9 Square Ventures group and vice president of strategic planning at Purina. “These passionate pet care entrepreneurs are tackling challenges in a variety of areas that all have the opportunity to help pets and those who are passionate about them thrive. We are excited to partner with these companies to foster their growth and success in the continuously growing and competitive pet care landscape.”

The five finalists will compete for an additional $25,000 grand prize this March at a pitch competition at Global Pet Expo, an annual trade show presented by the American Pet Products Association and the Pet Industry Distributors Association, where each startup will present to Purina executives, industry influencers and investors.

Purina, through its 9 Square Ventures corporate venturing group, partnered with investing leaders at Active Capital to create the Pet Care Innovation Prize in 2016. The effort provides financial support and mentorship opportunities for early-stage companies that are defining the future of pet care through novel products or services that provide meaningful solutions in the areas of pet health and wellness, services, technology, food, treats and litter.

9 Square Ventures leverages Purina’s knowledge, experience, and financial resources to help emerging pet care startups scale their businesses and make a positive impact on the lives of as many pets and their owners as possible. The group has been steadily investing millions of dollars in a diverse set of early-stage pet care startups since it was founded in 2014. 

For more information about the Pet Care Innovation Prize powered by Purina, visit https://petcareinnovation.net.

*From Precedence Research 

About Purina
Nestlé Purina PetCare creates richer lives for pets and the people who love them. Founded in 1894, Purina has helped dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives by offering scientifically based nutritional innovations. 

Purina manufactures some of the world’s most trusted and popular pet care products, including Purina ONE, Pro Plan, Friskies and Tidy Cats. Our more than 11,000 U.S. associates take pride in our trusted pet food, treat and litter brands that feed 46 million dogs and 68 million cats every year. Nearly 500 Purina scientists, veterinarians, and pet care experts ensure our commitment to unsurpassed quality and nutrition.

Over the past five years, Purina has contributed more than $150 million towards organizations that bring, and keep, people and pets together, as well as those that help our communities and environment thrive. Purina is part of Nestlé, a global leader in Nutrition, Health and Wellness. For more information, visit purina.com or subscribe here to get the latest Purina news.

About Active Capital:
Active Capital is a St. Louis-based impact investing leader, helping startups and investors come together to grow innovative products and initiatives. Active Capital manages the Pet Care Innovation Prize.

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SOURCE Nestle Purina PetCare

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ATTOM ENHANCES RENTAL AVM WITH AI-POWERED MODEL COVERING NEARLY 100 MILLION U.S. HOMES

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Enhanced model expands coverage by about 40% and delivers a 5.9% median error on homes not yet listed for rent

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM, the leading provider of property data, AI-powered intelligence, and real estate analytics solutions, today announced enhancements to its Rental AVM, introducing an AI-powered model that estimates current monthly market rent for nearly 100 million U.S. single-family homes, condominiums, and townhouses, an increase in coverage of about 40%. The model delivers a 5.9% median absolute error on homes before they are listed for rent, helping businesses evaluate rental potential and make more informed decisions.

“Estimating rental values is difficult because leases are private and many homes have no rental history,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “With these enhancements, we’re extending the same approach driving ATTOM Intelligence, combining trusted property data with advanced AI and analytics, to many more homes, so customers get more meaningful insights and can make better-informed decisions.”

Key Enhancements Include:

Expanded Coverage: Rental estimates for nearly 100 million single-family homes, condominiums, and townhouses across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a coverage increase of about 40%.Improved Accuracy: A 5.9% median absolute error on homes before they’re listed for rent, with calibrated low and high values that tighten as the evidence behind an estimate grows.AI-Powered Modeling: Multiple machine-learning models evaluate property characteristics, property value, rental history, and recent rental activity, weighing each based on the available evidence for a property.Listing-Based Training: The model is trained and benchmarked on observed rental listings, cleaned to remove duplicates, placeholder rents, and unrealistic prices.

“Our enhanced Rental AVM evaluates multiple sources of rental information and adapts to the evidence available for each property,” said Aaron Wagner, Head of Data Science at ATTOM. “That adaptability is what allows us to estimate rent for homes with no rental history and extend coverage to nearly 100 million properties, while keeping the ranges calibrated to the strength of the evidence behind each estimate.”

Built for Real-World Applications
ATTOM’s enhanced Rental AVM supports a range of business needs, including:

Real Estate Investors and Rental Operators: Screen acquisitions, evaluate rental potential, compare rental income with property values, and support rent-setting decisions.Mortgage Lenders and Insurers: Assess rental income for investment-property and DSCR loans, monitor portfolio exposure, and support loss-of-rent analysis.Real Estate Portals and AI Developers: Integrate rental estimates into property listings, investment tools, and AI-powered applications through ATTOM’s MCP Server.

Updated monthly to reflect new rental activity and changing market conditions, the enhanced Rental AVM is available through ATTOM’s APIs, bulk data licensing, Snowflake, Databricks, and MCP Server.

To learn more about ATTOM’s enhanced Rental AVM, visit the Rental AVM landing page or download the Rental AVM White Paper.

About ATTOM
ATTOM delivers AI-driven property intelligence built on the nation’s most trusted property data repository, covering 160+ million U.S. properties—99% of the population. Our engineered, multi-sourced, semantically rich real estate data spans property tax, deeds, mortgages, foreclosure, environmental risk, property conditions, natural hazards, neighborhood insights, and geospatial boundaries, rigorously validated for advanced analytics. ATTOM supports analytics, AI applications, and AI agents through flexible delivery options including APIs, bulk licensing, cloud delivery, and the MCP Server for AI-powered, agentic access to engineered property data, enabling organizations to automate analysis, power intelligent workflows, and scale property intelligence across industries.

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com 

Data and Report Licensing:
949.502.8313
datareports@attomdata.com

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SOURCE ATTOM

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Staypineapple to Donate to American Humane Society’s Pups4Patriots™ in Honor of Veterans Day

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Hotel brand will donate a portion of November bookings to help veterans and retired first responders receive service dogs

KIRKLAND, Wash., Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — In recognition of Veterans Day, Staypineapple, the national boutique hotel brand, is supporting American Humane Society’s Pups4Patriots™ program. Throughout the month of November, Staypineapple will donate up to $5,000 on behalf of its guests from every Pineapple Pup Package booking and every booking made with military or government rates. The initiative supports the placement of specially trained service dogs with veterans and retired first responders living with post-traumatic stress (PTS) and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI), at no cost to recipients.

In recognition of Veterans Day, Staypineapple will donate a portion of November bookings to the Pups4Patriots program.

“Dogs have an incredible ability to bring comfort, connection and a renewed sense of purpose to our lives,” said Dina Belon, President of Staypineapple. “We’re proud to support American Humane Society’s Pups4Patriots program and help more of our nation’s heroes access the companionship and support of a service dog. We hope our guests will join us in making a difference through booking a stay this November.”

Pups4Patriots helps remove financial barriers to obtaining a specially trained service dog, matching eligible veterans and retired first responders with dogs trained to support their specific needs.

The impact of the program can be seen in the bond between Russell, a retired U.S. Army veteran and law enforcement officer, and his service dog, Nico. Through Pups4Patriots, Nico has become an important source of support in Russell’s life. As Russell shared, “Nico has brought me a renewed sense of living that I was very much struggling to find before meeting him.”

Through this initiative, Staypineapple hopes to help connect more of America’s heroes with life-changing canine companions to those who have served our country and communities.

To learn more or book a stay, visit Staypineapple.com.

About Staypineapple
Staypineapple is a brand of boutique hotels in urban markets across the U.S., managed by Staypineapple Hotels Inc., based in Kirkland, Wash. Known for personalized service and a warm welcome for people and pets alike, Staypineapple creates unique guest experiences that offer more than just a place to stay. It is a place Where Stays Become Stories. For reservations or more information, visit Staypineapple.com or call (866) 866-7977. Follow Staypineapple on Instagram, Threads, TikTok and Facebook.

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SOURCE Staypineapple

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Terakeet’s Mac Cummings Named to ADWEEK Innovator 50 List

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Recognition honors Cummings’ leadership in transforming Terakeet and building a new model for enterprise reputation management in the age of generative AI

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ADWEEK today announced that Terakeet CEO & Co-Founder Mac Cummings has been named to the 2026 ADWEEK Innovator 50 list, which recognizes leaders driving innovation and shaping the future of marketing, media and technology.

Cummings was recognized for his leadership and vision in anticipating how generative AI would reshape enterprise reputation and positioning Terakeet to address the emerging challenges facing the Fortune 100 and its executives.

Over the past year, Cummings has led Terakeet’s transition from enterprise search marketing to global reputation management. The shift expanded the company’s focus beyond search visibility to the ways brands and executives are represented across search engines, generative AI platforms and the broader digital ecosystem.

“AI has changed what’s at stake for the Fortune 100,” said Cummings. “Reputation risk now moves across search and AI at the same time, and most brands don’t have the infrastructure to manage it. We built the Reputation Operating System to give them the technology, intelligence and expertise to understand those risks and strengthen their position before issues escalate.”

To better serve these customers, Cummings directed investments in proprietary technology, expanded the company’s expertise in cybersecurity and reputation risk, and established new strategic partnerships.

The recognition comes as Terakeet celebrates its 25th anniversary, marking a quarter century of evolution alongside major shifts in technology and the digital landscape. Cummings co-founded Terakeet in 2001 and has led the company through each stage of its growth, from its origins in search to its current focus on enterprise reputation management.

“The responsibility of a leader isn’t to protect the business model that worked yesterday but to recognize where the market is going and build for it,” Cummings said. “For Terakeet, that has meant looking past short-term fixes and building the infrastructure enterprises need to understand risk and protect trust in the AI era.”

About Mac Cummings

Mac Cummings is the CEO and Co-Founder of Terakeet. He co-founded the company in Syracuse, New York, in 2001 and has led its evolution across search marketing, digital strategy and enterprise reputation management. Today, Cummings oversees Terakeet’s business strategy and the continued development of its reputation management capabilities and technology.

About Terakeet

Terakeet is an enterprise reputation management company that helps brands and executives understand and manage how they are represented across search engines, generative AI platforms and the broader digital ecosystem. Founded in 2001, the company combines proprietary technology, intelligence and strategic expertise to support enterprise reputation programs.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/terakeets-mac-cummings-named-to-adweek-innovator-50-list-302928186.html

SOURCE Terakeet, LLC

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