Introducing Adoptimize
A new way to increase pet adoption rates
We all know that online dating profiles can make or break the first impression and affect your chances of scoring a date. The same can apply for pets too!
Just like dating profiles, potential pet adopters often sift through an ocean of different profiles… of pets. We have many foster pet profiles at 911fosterpets and know first-hand how important that first impression can be.
To help create a great first impression and increase pet adoption rates, our friends at Adoptimize has delivered a ground-breaking, innovative product that converts pet photos into stunning portfolio pictures—all without the hassle or cost of hiring a professional photographer or designer!
We had a Q&A with Jessica Schleder, Founder & CEO of Adoptimize, to hear the amazing story of what she’s doing to help so many animals find their forever home.
Jessica, tell us what were you doing before you started Adoptimize
Before animal sheltering, I had a career building digital products for Fortune 100 companies like Nestle. It was great and I loved it, until one day I was sitting in my cubicle working on a Butterfinger marketing campaign, and I realized that my impact on the world was being measured—quite literally—in the number of candy bars I could sell. For me, it wasn’t enough, so I started volunteering at the local animal shelter. I was shocked by the lack of data and even basic technology that limited their ability to serve their community the way they wanted to. I decided to switch careers into animal sheltering by getting an MBA, with the goal of serving as an executive director at a tech-forward animal welfare org. I didn’t expect to found a startup, but once I saw the photo problem I couldn’t NOT try to solve it.
Why did you decide to create Adoptimize and how did you come up with the idea?
The original concept of Adoptimize was something completely different—matching people to pets online based on online behavior. It looked a little like hyper-targeted Facebook ads for shelter pets. For example, if you were signed up for a marathon, you might be a good fit for an active dog. And we’d serve you the ad of the husky in the local shelter. There were plenty of things that didn’t work about this idea, but the biggest problem was the photos coming out of the shelter. You just can’t show someone a photo of a whale-eyed cat glued to the back of a carrier and convince them “this is a perfect 98% match for you!”
How does Adoptimize work and who are your primary users?
Adoptimize is a shelter software that automates great intake photos. All you have to do is snap a photo of your cat or dog, upload it in our webapp, and the Adoptimize algorithm automatically edits it for you. It takes about 10 seconds total. It’s designed to be really simple because no one needs to be doing MORE during intake.
We have all kinds of clients, but our primary users are brick-and-mortar shelters that intake over 1,000 pets per year. The goal is to get a good photo online fast to maximize the pet’s chances at a positive outcome.
Can you share some success stories?
In our first year, we’ve processed over 8,000 dogs, and the results have been pretty incredible. Dogs with Adoptimize images have seen:
- 79% higher adoption rates (and 34% higher foster rates) at Stockton Animal Services Stockton
- 26% higher RTO rates at El Paso Animal Services, saving them $22 per pet with that receives Adoptimize
- 24% lower length of stay at Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League, saving them more than $64k in just two months
Is Adoptimze just for dogs?
We just launched our automatic cat photo editor last week and we’re so excited to start helping cats too.
Can you share a story of your favorite pet that you’ve owned?
Renee Pusso was our foster cat back in April. We started calling her Fire Cat because she was so curious about the stove that she singed the ends of her whiskers.
Learn more about Adoptimize here.