Fi Brings Starlink Satellite Technology to Dog Collars

Fi, a startup that brings Starlink satellite technology to dog collars, is making headlines. The company's CEO, Jonathan Bensamoun, shares his experience as a dog owner that led him to develop this technology. Bensamoun explains how his dog, Thor, ran towards a family of deer and how he was unable to track him for several minutes. This experience led him to create Fi, a company that tracks dogs' locations and monitors their health in real-time. Now, Fi is launching the Fi Ultra, the first dog collar to run on Starlink's direct-to-cell satellite network. The Fi Ultra will cost $199 and will be added to the company's existing $99 six-month membership fee. Existing subscribers will only need to purchase the technology. The Ultra's battery is managed by machine learning that conserves power when the dog is at home or asleep, and activates everything when a dog goes missing. The launch comes at an interesting time for the industry. Fi's competitor, Tractive, reached $100 million in annual revenue last year and acquired pet wearable company Whistle. Tractive then shut down Whistle's product line, locking out thousands of devices and leaving users with nowhere to go. Fi has raised a total of $45 million with its Series B led by Longview Asset Management and has expanded to 38 countries over the past year. The company expects to reach $100 million in annual revenue this year. The market Fi is competing in is growing rapidly. Pet wearables are a $3.8 billion industry in 2026, projected to reach $11.4 billion by 2033, driven by Americans who are having children later and spending more on their dogs. Bensamoun admits that he bought his dog swimming lessons and that this dynamic has always been part of his thesis. 'I'm trying to erase the compromise between freedom and safety with technology,' he says.