PadsPass Awarded “Pet Start Up of the Year” In 2026 Pet Innovation Awards Program
Annual Awards Program Recognizes Companies, Services And Products Within The Rapidly Expanding Pet Industry That
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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The 2026 Pet Innovation Awards today announced that the digital travel companion for pets, PadsPass, has been named “Pet Start Up of the Year.” The Pet Innovation Awards is an independent recognition platform highlighting the most innovative companies, services, and products in the highly competitive pet care industry. The 8th annual awards program highlights solutions and products shaping the future of pet care, from nutrition and wellness to grooming and safety.
PadsPass is a digital pet passport that shows the requirements for travelling with a dog or cat on their specific route. This includes documents, vaccinations, and deadlines. The platform also helps with completing every step before the trip. The company tracks each rule for supported destinations.
Pet owners start by setting up their pet’s profile, adding breed, weight, and microchip information and uploading vet records. AI extracts the details from those records, a PadsPass reviewer checks them, and the pet’s own veterinary clinic can confirm the records directly, so they’re verified at source. Pet parents then enter their destination and select their flight, and PadsPass pulls the requirements for that specific route — health certificates, import permits, and vaccination timelines — with deadlines tied to the travel date. The trip dashboard then produces a clear checklist: what’s complete, what’s pending, and what needs attention before travel.
A pet profile with a shareable QR code brings vaccinations, treatments, and microchip data together in one place, showing which records are clinic-verified and which are self-reported. The data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and only the pet parent decides who sees it. PadsPass offers its Pet ID free of charge. The paid Digital Pet Passport takes those records and turns them into a live checklist of what a pet needs for a specific trip, updated as requirements change. In Bermuda, the government veterinarian processes pet health certificates directly through the PadsPass system. The company has also partnered with VetVerifi, a verification platform that is compatible with 96% of U.S. veterinary clinics and handles more than 30,000 verified record transactions daily. PadsPass supports in-cabin air travel for dogs and cats between the US, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the UK (reached via nearby EU destinations, with onward foot-passenger crossings), Bermuda, Canada, France, and the Netherlands, with more coming.
“Over a decade of flying with my dog showed that the system depends on a dozen humans interpreting fragmented rules across a single trip. Any single piece can break the whole journey, so we came home and started building the single passport that every step of the journey could trust, resulting in verified infrastructure that pet care has always lacked,” said Lauren Anders Brown, co-founder and CEO of PadsPass. “I’m proud to accept this award from Pet Innovation. This company is born out of the recognition that pet travel and identification no longer have to be broken – PadsPass is here to fix them so flying with a pet actually feels like a holiday.”
The mission of the annual Pet Innovation Awards Program is to honor innovation and recognize excellence, hard work and success in a range of Pet Care industry categories, including Apparel, Food & Treats, Health, Personalized & Functional Pet Nutrition, Sustainable & Eco-Friendly Pet Products, Retail & Services, Senior Pet Care and more. The 2026 Pet Innovation Awards attracted thousands of nominations from around the world. PadsPass’s compliance engine aligns to IATA Live Animal Regulations, OIE/WOAH disease-status framing, and country-specific import requirements, with rules updating when policies do.
“PadsPass moves pet identity beyond a paid privilege or a paper artifact to something free, verified, and trusted. The pet-travel industry runs on a paperwork problem: stapled rabies certificates, veterinary stamps, and emails. Pets get refused at the counter because a health certificate has expired the night before, or a microchip number is one digit off,” said Travis Grant, Managing Director, Independent Innovation Awards. “With PadsPass, pet parents don’t walk up to the desk with a folder of guesses. Instead, they have one solution where every record lives, can be verified by the clinic that wrote it, and is presented in the format the airline and the destination country need. Congratulations on winning ‘Pet Start Up of the Year!'”
The U.S. Pet Industry is poised for continued growth in 2026 after having reached $158 Billion in 2025. The humanization of pets has contributed to them living longer, healthier lives. From products and services that keep pets healthy, like food and supplements, to advances that enhance well-being, such as insurance and household items, pet owners are becoming more intentional, prioritizing care, wellness, grooming, and pet accessories in 2026.
About The Pet Innovation Awards
Part of Independent Innovation Awards organization, a global market intelligence and recognition program within the most competitive consumer categories, The Pet Innovation Awards honors the most outstanding and innovative companies, services, and products within the rapidly expanding pet care industry. The Pet Innovation Awards provides public recognition for achievements of pet care industry companies and products including Apparel, Grooming & Cleaning, Food & Treats, Health, Retailers & Services and more. For more information visit: https://petinnovationawards.com.
About PadsPass
PadsPass is the digital travel companion for pets and the people who love them. Founded by industry leaders in animal health and technology, PadsPass offers a simple, trusted solution for pet parents and veterinary teams to store records, verify travel requirements, and ensure pets are prepared for flights, sailings, or relocations. The platform combines a free Pet ID with a Digital Pet Passport, helping families and veterinary teams move with confidence. PadsPass has received accolades such as Best New Pet Tech Startup in Bermuda and recognition from HABRI for its contribution to pet well-being.
Media Contact:
Travis Grant
Pet Innovation Awards
Travis@petinnovationawards.com
949.667.4475
