New dog tracker

Targeting sleep disorders and separation anxiety

The tracker manufacturer for dogs and cats is growing strongly in the USA.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP, tractive)

For a long time, tractive focused almost exclusively on the fear of pets running away and developed a solution for this with the tracker, which allows dog and cat owners to sleep more peacefully. Now the Pasching-based company is expanding its range - and focusing much more on health.

The fact that the magic mark of one million paying customers was broken at the beginning of the year was no cause for great celebration at dog and cat tracker manufacturer tractive. The fact that July was the best month in the company's history was also only mentioned in passing by Managing Directors Michael Hurnaus and Wolfgang Reisinger. The Pasching-based company is looking to the future. Hurnaus: "We are expecting growth of 40, 50 percent again this year compared to 2023."

USA now the most important market
Following a successful financing round, the company rolled up its sleeves three years ago to gain a foothold in North America. "The USA is now our most important country with the most customers," says Hurnaus. Business tends to be better outside the cities: "In places where people can let their dogs and cats run free and not in New York City or San Francisco, even though we have customers there too, of course," explains the 41-year-old.

tractive co-founder Michael Hurnaus.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

There is plenty of potential for further growth: around 90 million dogs and cats live in North America, and tractive currently has around 250,000 customers there. The team working for the Upper Austrians in the USA is compact: 15 employees are primarily based in Seattle.

The tractive headquarters is in the immediate vicinity of PlusCity and has 250 employees. "We can de facto control everything from Austria," says Hurnaus, who was delighted with the market launch of the latest tracker model for dogs in recent weeks.

"Focusing much more on health"
Classic GPS tracking will continue to be offered, but will take a back seat. "We are focusing much more on health, but we are not a medical product," emphasizes the Mühlviertler. What does that mean in concrete terms? "We check whether the animal wakes up more often than normal and then inform the owner that something has changed - a kind of early warning system," explains Hurnaus. In addition, the barking is now also analyzed, which in turn allows conclusions to be drawn about separation anxiety. "We simply want to be an all-round package," emphasize the tractive bosses.

Warnings about coyotes, poisoned bait and ticks
Warnings about poisoned bait, coyotes or wolves, as well as the increased risk of ticks and fleas, are also intended to score points. Information about traveling to other countries with your pet will also be automatically provided in the app or by email. According to Reisinger, the company sees itself in the role of a "permanent companion". Hurnaus calls it a "smart home for dogs" and emphasizes: "This is constantly being improved."