Amer Aqqad on disrupting the pet care industry with Bookmypet
Amer Aqqad founded Bookmypet in 2021 to address the gap he encountered in the regional pet care market. As a single online platform, the Bookmypet app offers services including grooming, daycare, boarding, veterinary, pet taxis, and more. It covers all major cities in the UAE, with plans to expand to KSA.
Aqqad is not new to this world. He brings 16 years of experience in fast-moving consumer goods, pet care services, and the recruitment platform Talentailor.com which he founded and later successfully exited.
Today, Bookmypet boasts 17,000 subscribers (118% growth year-on-year), with $1m booked sales to date. But that’s just the beginning.
We started our conversation by talking about what – and who – inspired him in his startup journey.
Gulf Economist: Who have you looked up to as a founder or business leader over the years?
Amer Aqqad: One of the leaders I’ve always looked up to is John Tsioris from Instashop, whose ability to digitally transform traditional baqalas (grocery stores) and scale a consumer-centric platform while staying deeply connected to the customer experience was inspiring. I learned that real innovation happens when you obsess over solving a genuine need – that’s what inspired me to do the same for pet care services.
GE: Is that how Bookmypet came about?
AA: Bookmypet was born from personal frustration and personal experience in the industry. As a pet parent, I realised how fragmented and unreliable pet care services were in the region. Pet parents were relying on word of mouth, WhatsApp messages, and inconsistent providers. I wanted to create a trusted digital marketplace, bringing verified services for grooming, boarding, training, and more into one seamless app.
GE: So how have things evolved since launching?
AA: Initially, we focused purely on service aggregation. But the bigger opportunity was clear: creating an entire pet lifestyle ecosystem – from e-commerce to subscriptions, health reminders, and community features. Today, Bookmypet is becoming a one-stop-shop for every pet parent need as well as expanding across the region.
GE: Tell us about your funding journey.
AA: We bootstrapped the initial MVP from personal savings and then raised a pre-seed round from angel investors who believed in the problem we were solving and the size of the market opportunity. We recently secured our seed funding and are currently in a bridge round, with strategic investors on board as we scale into new markets like KSA and expand into pet products e-commerce.
GE: A lot of founders have these pivotal moments in their growth journey. Was that the case for you?
AA: For me, two stand out. The first is launching our app and hitting product-market fit in the UAE. The second is being accepted into two of the biggest accelerators – Nestle’s Unleashed and SANDBOX. The mentorship, network, and investor access that they both provided played a major role in refining our growth strategy and fundraising readiness.
GE: So what was your experience with SANDBOX like?
AA: It was more than an accelerator – it was a launchpad. SANDBOX helped us with extensive audits across key areas of our business. It is super critical to take time to pause and adjust, and as a startup this is not always something we think of prioritising. In the second phase, SANDBOX helped us focus on sharpening our go-to-market approach, validating our metrics-driven traction, and plugging us into a powerful ecosystem of advisors and peers.
GE: Did you ever have a moment where you felt like giving up?
AA: I never considered giving up. It was never an option. Being consistent and relentless is something I strongly believed in. What helped me the most is always being critical, understanding that the journey takes time and is filled with challenges. Success means pushing through as nothing comes easy. This helped me manage my own expectations.
GE: A lot of founders have these pivotal moments in their growth journey. Was that the case for you?
AA: For me, two stand out. The first is launching our app and hitting product-market fit in the UAE. The second is being accepted into two of the biggest accelerators – Nestle’s Unleashed and SANDBOX. The mentorship, network, and investor access that they both provided played a major role in refining our growth strategy and fundraising readiness.
GE: So what was your experience with SANDBOX like?
AA: It was more than an accelerator – it was a launchpad. SANDBOX helped us with extensive audits across key areas of our business. It is super critical to take time to pause and adjust, and as a startup this is not always something we think of prioritising. In the second phase, SANDBOX helped us focus on sharpening our go-to-market approach, validating our metrics-driven traction, and plugging us into a powerful ecosystem of advisors and peers.
GE: Did you ever have a moment where you felt like giving up?
AA: I never considered giving up. It was never an option. Being consistent and relentless is something I strongly believed in. What helped me the most is always being critical, understanding that the journey takes time and is filled with challenges. Success means pushing through as nothing comes easy. This helped me manage my own expectations.
GE: I imagine there were mis-steps along the way.
AA: I learned a lot about UX and customer journey and the impact those can have on sales: When we started I was developing and designing an app based on my personal view and didn’t realise how widespread the spectrum is in terms of expectations. I learned to utilise our user base for feedback, test and learn and come up with the design that satisfies the majority of users’ needs.
GE: So what’s next for your company in the next year or two?
AA: We’re expanding into Saudi Arabia, launching pet products e-commerce, and rolling out subscription-based experiences. Our goal is to increase customer retention while scaling across the GCC and hit profitability as per our plan.
GE: Just to finish, how has your experience been as a founder in the UAE, and what would success look like to you in five years?
AA: The business setup process was extremely easy in the UAE, very fast and efficient and cost friendly. The UAE investment landscape is active and evolving. More VCs are looking for scalable, tech-enabled businesses – but they’re still conservative compared to the West. As for Bookmypet, the goal is to become the dominant pet care platform super app in MENA which is trusted by millions, integrated into daily life for pet parents, and shapes the future of pet wellness in the region.
GE: Thanks so much for your time, Amer.
A call-out to early-stage tech founders – are you setting yourself up for success?
SANDBOX is a highly competitive investment programme which offers $150,000 in funding, mentorship from seasoned experts, and direct exposure to a network of regional and international VCs. Held twice a year in February and September, SANDBOX draws over 1,000 applications per cohort, with only 2% coming through the selection process, making it one of the region’s most sought-after programmes for early-stage tech founders.
SANDBOX is run by Oraseya Capital – a $136m venture capital fund backed by Dubai Integrated Economic Zones (DIEZ). As the UAE’s most active investor, Oraseya Capital backs startups from pre-Seed to Series B from $150,000 to $3m.
SANDBOX is now accepting applications to its 7th cohort commencing September 2025. For more information, go to www.sandboxaccelerator.co