Business on four paws - successful, sustainable and full of love
When the love for animals meets the entrepreneurial spirit, solutions are born that not only touch, but also change the daily lives of hundreds of people. This is the case with BuddyGuard - the first ever Bulgarian platform that connects pet owners with trained pet sitters.
The company already serves clients in major cities, has its own mobile app and over 800 active users. And the beginning? It all started with one unsolvable situation and one too energetic dog.
"I had no one to leave my young, 50-kilogram dog with, and animal hotels didn't inspire confidence," says founder Christina Vodenicharova.
At the peak of the pandemic in 2020, she decided to create a platform where owners could find trusted sitters offering walks, care and hourly stays - in their own home or the animal's home.
With one website and one Facebook page, BuddyGuard started to attract interest. In 2021, Kostadin Mihaylov joined the team - he applied for a caretaker position but was invited to become a partner after the first interview, which lasted four hours.
"His eyes lit up when he talked about animals," recalls Christina. "We wanted not just a service, but a whole system of trusted people with strict standards," Kostadin adds.
Standards and protocols that impress
Each caretaker goes through a multi-step training process that includes online interviews, group work, access to an educational portal and regular testing every three months.
Communication with the client is also part of the protocol - photos, information about the condition of the pet and the itinerary of the walk must be sent. So far over 300 pet sitters have been trained in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse and other cities. Each of them determines their own working hours and the price of the service.
Code written by an 18-year-old talent
The platform is powered by software developed by the 18-year-old Christian Radev, whose work secured him direct admission to the Technical University - Software Engineering major.
"While many startups rely on artificial intelligence, we rely on emotion. We believe that a pet is part of the family and deserves personalized care," says Kostadin.
GPS tracking, insurance and... expansion
The new mobile app also offers GPS tracking of walks in real time, and for added security, customers can take out insurance of up to €15,000 covering medical interventions or damage to their home. This way, in the event of an accident, the caretaker can go to a veterinary clinic and the insurance can then cover the animal's treatment.
And while this all sounds like a project with massive backing, success was achieved without a serious advertising budget. It was only in early 2025 that BuddyGuard benefited from funding through the BDB Microfinance - with a working capital loan guaranteed under the InvestEU program.
"We didn't know that BDB also finances start-ups like ours. Until now, we associated it with large industrial projects," says Christina. They were fascinated by how comprehensive the information they received from the BDB Microfinance team was and how positively they were received.
Next stop.
BuddyGuard doesn't plan to stop there. By the end of 2025, the team plans international expansion, with the model being adapted to markets in Central and Western Europe.
"When we saw how the service was being received in Bulgaria, we realised we had created something with huge potential," says Christina. BuddyGuard is an example of how a cause can be profitable and long-term, without losing its soul.
