A FORMER founder of Pace in Saltaire has launched a pet brand which will mix tech, food and home delivery in a bid to fight pet obesity.

Kasper & Kitty has been set up by Barry Rubery, former CEO of Pace, the world’s largest manufacturer of set-top boxes, alongside his wife Emma-Jane Rubery.

The brand - which launches first in the UK, will then target Europe and Australia, will sell a complete range of hand-blended dog food and treats alongside a tech-enabled activity collar and associated phone app.

Core to the brand offer is a subscription-based home delivery service which delivers a monthly package of nutritious dog food bespoke to the pet - using data input into Kasper & Kitty website or app - using a recipe is created for each dog.

Centre to the concept is the ‘Fitkolar’, an activity collar which, when paired with the company’s free-to-use app, monitors the dog’s activity. Based on that activity, which can be viewed on the app or website dashboard, an algorithm calculates whether the next delivery will change in terms of recipe and amount of food to be fed to the dog. The Kalorometer measures ‘Distance’, ‘Calories’, ‘Rest’ and ‘Goals’, much in the same way as a human fitness app would.

Barry Rubery said: “Pets and set-top boxes may not be the most obvious of bedfellows, but what they both have in common are huge international markets. The market in the UK alone for pets is worth around £17bn. We took Pace and created a company with a global footprint and our ambition is to do the same in the pet industry with Kasper & Kitty.

“There are 13 million households with pets in the UK alone and what is becoming an increasing problem is over-feeding. Pet obesity is showing no signs of slowing so our offer will mix tech and data with a home delivery service to create a managed feeding programme.

“Great quality kibble food will be delivered to your home based on the recommended daily calorie intake for a specific dog using data input by the owner, either via our app or website.

“Alongside this subscription-based food delivery service – which operates in much the same way as a Graze or an Abel & Cole – we have a tech product."

Emma-Jane Rubery added: “Kasper & Kitty will change how we care for our pets by creating a home-delivered, calorie-counted, managed feeding programme supported by an activity collar and data dashboard. It’s bringing pet healthcare into the 21st century.”

The husband-and-wife team, who have two golden retriever-Labrador crosses, are being joined in the venture by food industry veteran Steve Fox.