Innovation in the pet industry often begins with a simple question: How can life be made easier for people and their pets?
For Meelis Paloson, that question sparked the creation of Petinder, a platform designed to connect pet owners with trusted services, such as pet adoption, in a seamless manner. From concept to execution, his journey reflects resilience, adaptability, and a strong belief in the role of technology in shaping the pet industry.
In this conversation with PETBIZS, Meelis opens up about his entrepreneurial path, the challenges of building a pet-tech brand, and his vision for the future of pet care.
Meelis, let’s start on a personal note. How would you introduce yourself to our readers, and what parts of your journey shaped who you are today?
I’m Meelis, a community builder at heart and someone who believes that our early years define who we become. The values I carry today started at home, shaped by the way I was raised and the principles I learned as a child.
At 19, I took a leap that changed everything — I left Estonia and moved to Barcelona. It was more than just climate change; it was stepping into a new culture, with different rhythms and personalities. That experience taught me how to adapt, stay open, and appreciate diversity in people and ideas.
In total, by now I’ve been in Barcelona for 21 years, and over 15 of them I’ve been working in B2B sales. I’ve had the privilege to work with incredible teams, build strong client relationships, and learn how much impact the right connection can make.
Yet, what excites me most is creating something that brings people together. That’s why I founded Petinder — a platform that helps adoptable pets find loving homes. It reflects not just my professional skills, but also my personal belief that change starts with small actions that grow into something bigger.
Considering the feedback from others, I appear to be a friendly and helpful person.😃
Every business idea has a spark behind it. What was the moment or experience that pushed you to create Petinder - a platform focused on pet adoption?
It all actually started quite a few years ago when I moved to Barcelona. I’m originally from Estonia, but I’ve been living in Barcelona since the summer of 2004.
Around 2007 or so, with my partner, we decided that we wanted to adopt a dog. After quite some time surfing the internet, we finally found a shelter to approach. We decided to go, and before visiting, we equipped ourselves with the necessary information about the pet adoption conditions in Barcelona.
At the shelter, we ended up adopting a puppy from a man who was trying to give it to the shelter. The shelters normally do not accept young puppies due to the possible infections and weak immune system.
After we got home with our puppy, who we named Foxy, the question was now, what can we do with him? Back then, our society wasn’t as pet-friendly as it is nowadays. It wasn’t really easy to find information online about places to go, what one can do, and not do with a dog. All the info was way too spread out.
The time passed, and unfortunately, Foxy had to pass to the other side, and he’s no longer with us.
One day, I decided to check again about shelters and discovered that the details about them still do not have enough presence.
From there, I started thinking about what I could do to help shelters gain more visibility. Then one day, I decided to start creating a “catalogue” to help other users find their new member of the family more easily. It still took some time before I finally decided on the first concept and got to work on it.
Before turning the idea into reality, how did you test if people really needed a pet adoption platform like Petinder?
To be honest, I didn’t really test the need itself. Petinder was born from my own personal decision on me wanting to help homeless animals. An additional push made an article I read from National Geographic, which places Spain as the number one country in Europe in pet abandonment in 2020, with 700+ animals being abandoned every single day.
This was the last drop of my patience about waiting for the government or someone else to do something about it, and I decided to take the initiative myself.
I really wasn’t sure at all if anyone would even visit our portal, but I knew I had to do something about it. After having to start receiving visits, it became more and more clear in my head that I’m moving in a good direction.
Building something new is never smooth. What were the toughest hurdles in the beginning, and how did you push through them?
The most difficult part was knowing that I really want to help these poor, abandoned creatures, but not knowing exactly how. It took a while to finally decide on what would be the basic structure of Petinder. And it took even more time to start developing the project, to what it is right now, and set up a roadmap to really try to reshape pets’ well-being and pet adoption with responsibility.
What always keeps me going is knowing that one person can make a difference, even a small difference is something. Our furry family members, our pets, deserve that we return them their dignity that they deserve.
Let’s talk about the nuts and bolts. How does the Petinder model work, and what changes has it undergone since its initial launch?
Petinder is still in its shaping stage. From a basic listing website, it is shaping into a complete ecosystem for pet adoption and their well-being.
Currently, we are working on a brand new version of the portal. The new version will also include a CRM for the shelters to digitize their pets’ management. Besides, expect a biometric scan of dogs and cats for faster recognition of lost pets to help them get home faster without having to step into a shelter.
In short, there are many new features coming up, which will be published when the time comes. For that, you’ll need to keep yourself up-to-date with our activities.
Reaching both pet owners and service providers can be tricky. What approaches have worked best for you in bringing them on board?
The trickier part is getting providers into our database.
Pet owners reach us mainly through Google searches. Especially when users search for pet-friendly beaches, water parks, and other outdoor activities. Word of mouth is also a very good traffic source for us.
However, there hasn’t been any paid advertising yet, going on, but that might change in the future to reach even wider audiences.
Growth often comes with its own set of challenges. How do you make sure Petinder grows without losing quality?
Until now, the whole project has been financed from my own personal pocket. Juggling between a full-time job and developing Petinder can sometimes be a bit challenging. On the other hand, adding on top of that a personal life, this all together is one of the biggest challenges.
However, the quality is always at the top of the priorities. Petinder is my baby and will move forward, whatever it takes. Since the first launch and having seen users really navigating the portal, it convinces me more and more about Petinder moving in the right direction.
Quality just cannot be lowered. Failing these poor homeless creatures is not an option for me.
Technology is at the heart of your platform. Which tech choices were make-or-break decisions for you, and how do you see innovation shaping Petinder’s future?
As I kind of consider myself tech-savvy on a basic level and know the basics of WordPress, I decided to start the whole website using that. Then, adding new features to the platform.
Now, with the new version that we are working on, we have decided to start everything from scratch, first establishing the basic tech-stack. That gives us full control over what we’re creating and flexibility to develop our upcoming features.
The pet industry keeps shifting. How do you see trends like online vet care or smart wearables fitting into your vision for Petinder?
Online vet care is on its way to gaining more popularity. Some situations can be sorted out just with a video call, or even save a life through a basic call.
For example, when you’re too far outside of a city, in the middle of nowhere, having a nice walk and your dog eats a berry or something that there’s an emergency. While on a video call with a vet, the doctor can give you advice on how to solve it yourself, or while you’re on your way to your car, and while driving, calm you down, and update you on the symptoms. There are many use cases.
Smart wearables are not only for us, humans, but also for our pets. I completely see it becoming a “default” requirement for insurance companies, requiring pet owners to have a smart device to prove the health of the animal and that you are complying with the insurance conditions.
Anyway, it’s already very normal that we track our health, so why not extend it to our pets too?
If we fast forward a few years, what’s your dream scenario for Petinder? How do you hope it will impact the pet industry at large?
An ideal would be a complete ecosystem around:
- Pet adoption and their well-being
- Source of information for all pet-related services, travel, places to be, meetups, etc.
- International healthcard with full info about the health stage (tracked with smart devices), vaccination history, and much more.
- Petinder will be an additional source of income for the shelters, getting them more donors.
There’s so much more to come with all the new technology and innovation coming out in the near future.
On a personal level, what has this journey taught you about leading a business, staying resilient, and innovating under pressure?
The whole experience has made me discover the real potential in me and how strong I can actually be. It is only oneself that puts the limits. Maintaining my personal calmness is luckily already part of my personality, and this is something one has to know how to control in any situation.
Finally, if a young entrepreneur came to you wanting to build something for the pet industry, what advice would you give them?
For anyone wanting to build something that will improve the lives of our true friends, keep on believing in yourself, even if others try to bring you down. There are always difficulties; it’s part of life anyway, but look towards your reason for why you want to start your idea to become reality, and it’ll put you back on track.
Thank you, Meelis, for sharing your inspiring journey and valuable insights with us. Your story of building Petinder highlights how innovation, persistence, and empathy can transform the way we approach pet adoption in the future.
From tackling early challenges to shaping a tech-driven platform, Meelis demonstrates how one idea can grow into a movement that empowers shelters, connects pet owners, and redefines standards in the pet industry.
At PETBIZS, we believe his vision is a reminder that progress comes from passion, and the future of pet care and adoption will continue to be shaped by leaders like Meelis who dare to act.
