From Bihar to Building India’s Pet-Tech Future: The Remarkable Journey of Suraj Kumar, Founder & CEO of AnimalsLover

Behind every great startup is a founder who refused to accept the world as it was. For Suraj Kumar, that world was one where pet lovers in India — especially in smaller cities — were left without reliable, trustworthy, or affordable pet care. His response was to build AnimalsLover — and in doing so, he has quietly become one of the most promising young entrepreneurs in Bihar’s rapidly growing startup ecosystem.

Who Is Suraj Kumar?

Suraj Kumar is the Founder and CEO of AnimalsLover (SKAS Technologies Pvt. Ltd.), a pet-tech startup headquartered in Patna, Bihar. Born and raised in Bihar, Suraj represents a new generation of Indian entrepreneurs who are building impactful, technology-driven businesses not from Bengaluru or Mumbai, but from the heart of Tier-2 India.

From a young age, Suraj had a deep love for animals. He noticed something that most people simply accepted: pet owners in cities like Patna had nowhere reliable to turn. There were no verified breeders, no quality boarding options, no accessible veterinary guidance, and no trusted community to lean on. The pet care industry in India was thriving in metros — but for the rest of the country, it barely existed.

Rather than wait for someone else to solve this, Suraj decided to build the solution himself. In 2023, at a young age, he founded AnimalsLover with a clear mission: make pet parenting easy, trusted, and accessible for every Indian household — from metro cities to Motihari.

The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Solving Real Problems

What sets Suraj Kumar apart is not just his passion — it is his approach. He identified a problem that affected millions of Indian households, built a technology-first solution around it, and executed it with a lean team from a city that most people wouldn’t associate with tech startups.

Suraj understood early on that pet care in India was fragmented: buying a pet meant navigating unverified classifieds, boarding a dog meant trusting strangers on social media, and getting health advice meant expensive or inaccessible vet visits. He built AnimalsLover to unify all of these under one trusted, technology-driven platform.

His instinct to collaborate with IIT Patna for AI-powered pet health analysis shows the same thinking — rather than building alone, he sought out the best minds available and put them to work on a problem that truly mattered.

Building from Bihar: A Statement in Itself

Choosing to build AnimalsLover from Patna was itself a deliberate decision. Suraj is deeply rooted in Bihar and understands the needs of pet lovers in smaller cities in a way that no metro-based founder could. He knows that a working professional in Patna faces the same challenges — and deserves the same quality of pet care — as someone in Delhi or Pune.

Operating from Bihar has also meant building lean, staying customer-close, and making every resource count. With a team of just 5–10 people, Suraj has built a platform that has served over 1,000 customers, completed more than 500 pet transactions and services, achieved an 80%+ customer satisfaction rate, and enabled 60% faster pet discovery and adoption for its users — metrics that would be impressive for any startup, anywhere.

National Recognition: MSME Idea Hackathon 5.0

In 2024, Suraj Kumar’s work received its most significant national validation to date. He was selected as one of the Top 7 entrepreneurs in Bihar at the prestigious MSME Idea Hackathon 5.0, one of India’s most competitive platforms for emerging entrepreneurs and small business innovators. The recognition came with a ₹15 Lakh grant — a powerful endorsement of AnimalsLover’s model, potential, and impact.

For Suraj, the hackathon win is more than funding — it is proof that a founder from Bihar, solving a problem for Indian pet lovers, can compete and win at the national level. The grant is being deployed towards expanding AnimalsLover’s Dog Hostel Network, launching the AnimalsLover Care grooming product line, and deepening the platform’s reach into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

What Suraj Is Building: The AnimalsLover Ecosystem

Under Suraj’s leadership, AnimalsLover has grown into India’s most comprehensive pet parenting platform, covering every stage of a pet owner’s journey:

• Verified Pets Buy & Sell: Safe, transparent listings to buy or adopt dogs and puppies across India.
• Dog Hostel Network: A curated boarding network across multiple cities, now with free doorstep pickup and drop.
• AnimalsLover Care: A proprietary pet grooming product line designed for Indian pets, launching soon.
• AI Pet Health Community: Real-time health guidance powered by AI, developed in association with IIT Patna.
• Veterinary Consultation Support: Six months of free vet consultation and one year of expert pet support with every purchase.
• Pet Products Marketplace: A curated store for premium pet food, accessories, and health products.

Leadership Philosophy: People, Purpose, and Pets

Suraj leads AnimalsLover with a hands-on, mission-driven philosophy. He believes that trust is the foundation of the pet care industry — pet owners are placing the wellbeing of their animals in someone else’s hands, and that responsibility must be taken seriously at every level of the business.

This belief is reflected in every part of the AnimalsLover platform: verified listings, vetted boarding partners, AI-backed health guidance, and a commitment to being present for customers not just at the point of sale but throughout the lifetime of their pet ownership journey.

In His Own Words

“When I started AnimalsLover, people asked me why I was building a pet-tech company from Patna. My answer was simple — because the problem exists here, the people are here, and no one else was solving it. We are not just a marketplace. We are a support system for every pet parent in India, from the day they bring their pet home to every challenge they face along the way. The MSME Hackathon recognition has shown us that the country is ready to back ideas that solve real problems — and we are just getting started.”

— Suraj Kumar, Founder & CEO, AnimalsLover (SKAS Technologies Pvt. Ltd.)

What’s Next: Suraj’s Roadmap for AnimalsLover

With the MSME grant, growing recognition, and a platform that is already delivering real impact, Suraj Kumar’s near-term priorities for AnimalsLover include:

• Expanding the Dog Hostel Network with pickup and drop to new cities across India
• Launching AnimalsLover Care — a proprietary pet grooming product line
• Deepening AI pet health capabilities in partnership with IIT Patna
• Onboarding more verified breeders, boarding partners, and veterinary professionals
• Scaling the platform to serve Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities that have historically lacked quality pet care

Key Achievements at a Glance

• Founded AnimalsLover: 2023, Patna, Bihar
• Customers Served: 1,000+
• Pet Transactions & Services Completed: 500+
• Customer Satisfaction Rate: 80%+
• Faster Pet Discovery for Users: 60%
• MSME Idea Hackathon 5.0: Top 7 in Bihar | ₹15 Lakh Grant
• Startup India Recognition: DIPP167526
• Startup Bihar Recognition: Awarded
• AI Innovation Partner: IIT Patna
• Team Size: 5–10 dedicated professionals

About AnimalsLover (SKAS Technologies Pvt. Ltd.)

AnimalsLover is a Patna-based pet-tech startup founded in 2023 by Suraj Kumar. The company operates India’s most comprehensive pet ecosystem platform, offering verified pet listings, a dog hostel network with pickup and drop, a pet products marketplace, AI-powered health guidance developed with IIT Patna, and veterinary consultation support. Recognised by Startup India, Startup Bihar, and MSME Idea Hackathon 5.0, AnimalsLover is on a mission to make pet parenting easy, trusted, and accessible for every Indian household.

Media Contact

Suraj Kumar

Founder & CEO, AnimalsLover

13th Floor, Biscoman Bhawan, Patna, Bihar, India

Email: hello@animalslover.in

Phone: +91 7050601752

Website: https://www.animalslover.in

Instagram: https://instagram.com/animalslover.official1