Sphinx: The Smart Wet Feeder For Cats Kickstarter | interview with Grant Barnekow - Go Fund This

Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome to go fund this. I'm Rob Southgate. Today I have with me Grant Barnacow from. Well, I don't know what the company is, but we're going to be talking about the Sphinx, the smart wet feeder for cats. I don't know if there is there a company I should have been mentioning there, Grant.

Speaker B: Uh, you know, legal entity, but we're doing business as Sphinx.

Speaker A: As Sphinx. Okay, no problem.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Okay. So, so Grant, this is really interesting to me and I do want to get right into it. I should say I want to, I want to get into it. But we're not going to. We're going to do a couple of little things. First, uh, first of all, I do want to say you can find it on Kickstarter under Sphinx S P H I N X. Uh, and I will put a link in the show notes so everybody can find it. The Kickstarter goes live on May 20, 2025, which is the year this is airing. I uh, have to make sure we say that because people listen three, four years know you can still get links to stuff but they can't do the Kickstarter after that point. So we do want to help with this Kickstarter. I think this is really cool. Uh, Grant, before we jump into what Sphinx is, can you give us just a little background on you?

Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. So, uh, I am based in Palo Alto and I have been. This is where I grew up in the Bay Area here. Um, and uh, I went to UC Berkeley, um, and shortly thereafter I lived in China for about a year and a half to two years. Um, and there I got a pretty in depth understanding of manufacturing which became uh, something I was super passionate about. I then came back and worked in technology in San Francisco for about 10 years or so. And then when the pandemic uh, hit, um, just before then I had adopted two cats, Colette and Mordu from the San Francisco spca. And uh, very uh, early on I realized um, a just how hard it was to feed them the right thing, especially with my working schedule. Um, and that is the problem that I went out to um, solve. Now um, we're in Palo Alto. My co founder, um, Ben, um, he's actually an ophthalmologist by training. Um, and, and uh, you know we're both just super passionate about cats and pet health. Um, and so um, that's, that's how we got started.

Speaker A: I love it. Actually, uh, we're cat owners on our end here and I bet, I bet a lot of the people listening are cat Fans too. We, uh. When I was reading what Sphinx does, I had the same thoughts. I've thought about the same kind of thing so many times, but I'm not on the manufacturing end, so I kept thinking, boy, I wish somebody would make something like this. Because you see those, those auto timer, um, feeders. It's not what this is. This is more designed specifically for cats and, and does what it needs to do for cats. Plus it's going to make them a little bit more healthy because I know how we treat our cats. Mine, mine eats her wet food out of a goblet, a little crystal goblet, so she's at the right height and you know, so we do pamper them. Um, okay, enough about my cat. Uh, let's hear about Sphinx. Tell us what Sphinx, the smart wet feeder for cats, does. Let's, let's hear it.

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So basically, when you're dealing with wet food, you, um, are going to run in with issues unless you actually start with the packaging itself. Um, because as any sort of cat owner knows, as soon as you open the can or bag or what have you, um, the, uh, timer starts. And that's for bacteria and oxidation, both of things that, um, spoil the food and then also as a result, um, you know, lead, uh, to reductions in palatability, which leads to loss of food. And that really annoys me as a cat owner when I'm buying super expensive stuff that's human grade, uh, or, you know, whatever sort of the recent marketing terms are, um, if that food goes to waste, which is completely out of your control because, you know, the cats will deem it worthy or not. Right.

Speaker A: Or they're just not interested.

Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. No, no, it's super complex actually. And, um, um, so what we set out to do was make a new type of packaging for food that could be dispensed by a device that would, once, um, it's dispensed, it would keep it fresh. And once, uh, it's dispensed into the bowl that's designed specifically, specifically for cats, um, we could make it even more palatable.

Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. Uh, it is a, a real problem. I mean, I think you've hit a pain point for cat owners, uh, because we do care about these animals quite a bit and we watch this. I know with our current cat, uh, it is an issue. Uh, we feed her, we don't give her wet food every day. Uh, uh, so when we do, we think, okay, well, you know, we'll give her. Now we're at half A thing. Because she can't, she's small. She can't eat the whole thing. You end up either throwing it out or you have to give it to her after it's been refrigerated. And it's, it's just not, it's not what you want. And, uh, I, I, and, and she also doesn't always want it. Right then. Now, when you set a timer, what I was thinking of is when she hears even the cabinet door open, cat's right there. Right. But they don't always eat. Yep. They want to sniff it and walk away. And it sounds like what you've got, like, is going to be there when she's ready, getting her the food at its maximum nutritional level, which I, I think is fabulous.

Speaker B: No, totally. And there's all these variables that we as owners, like, either can't track or have no understanding of. Speaking, uh, for myself personally. But, uh, it's, it's much beyond kind of just the time. It's, um, the scent of the food, uh, this particular batch, um, what is the correct amount for each cat meal? Um, and these are all things that, because Sphinx is a smart device, can capture, and over time, we can, uh, with our algorithms, we can learn your cat's preferred behaviors.

Speaker A: So I did not realize it was a smart device. It was me reading what the cat's behaviors are and trying to pick up. That's fabulous. Yeah. Because it's hard enough to do that on our own.

Speaker B: I know. It's like, it's kind of like having a personal chef for yourself. It's like, you know, uh, that would be super expensive, and, uh, obviously someone would have to, like, make every meal for you. But really, we can capture all the data points that contribute, uh, to palatability and consumption. We can see how fast, uh, it takes your cat to get to each meal and the completion rate of each meal. Because ultimately, what we want to do is just create a more efficient ecosystem.

Speaker A: Sure.

Speaker B: And now, um, you know, uh, to some, to some, especially those who don't have cats, they might think, well, why would I care about that? Uh, but really, a third of all American households have a cat. And most of the time, two. Uh, and so, um, and there's something like, ah, half a billion cats throughout the world. So if we can sort of feed them more efficiently, uh, and keep them at ideal weights, uh, and proper hydration levels, we, uh, can have a tremendous impact on the overall health and, um, strain that the veterinary system is currently seeing.

Speaker A: Wow. So, okay, back to business a little bit Here right now, since the, the Kickstarter launches on May 20, 2025, uh, right now, and this may change, but the goal that we're talking about is $35,000 for this Kickstarter. Uh, what Grant had told me at the beginning when I asked about that, he said, well, it's going to happen no matter what. But we do want to get this goal. We want to get some, some money into the company for this, which makes perfect sense. So right now it's 35, 000 by the time it launches. That might go up or down. That has no bearing on this. But at least you got an idea of kind of what, what we're looking at as a Kickstarter. Uh, you can find it on Kickstarter. You type in Sphinx, the smart wet feeder, and bam, it comes up. You could go to Google and look at it, or you can look in the show notes under Sphinx, S, P, H, I, N, X. Gotta make sure I spell it. I'm sure you've run into that, too. Wait, there's no F in it. Yeah, there's not.

Speaker B: No. Or the cat breed has a Y.

Speaker A: Right, Right, Right. Oh, yeah. Oh, get even more confusing. Uh, so, uh, so there you go. There's the business end of it. Just know that it is March, uh, gonna be launching May 20th. And, uh, know what the goal is. We want to hit that goal. I think this is really important. I think this is really interesting. It's very different than what we usually do on GoFund this, but I think that, that you, my audience is going to really be into this and want to support this. I'm going to say it now rather than at the end if you think this is a good idea. If you know any cat owners, you want to get in there, you want to share this, even pre launch, let them know about this, Spread the word. That's how a, uh, really fantastic Kickstarter like this hits its goal, by spreading the word and letting people know about it. Even if you don't have cats, I bet you have somebody out there that does who loves their cat. Share this with them. And already, I love this. You're already. We're not even launched and you're under projects we love for Kickstarter. That is fantastic. That means we've got legs here. This is something people are going to be interested in. So, Grant, uh, I know we're still a little bit earlier in the process. Do you have any of the rewards set up that you want to highlight?

Speaker B: Yeah, there's. There's a Few that are, I think, are super exciting. We, um, are going to unveil this, uh, uh, in a couple days. But there is a mystery, uh, color, uh, of device that people will get access to. And uh, we're also looking at custom customization because, you know, everything should be specific to the cat that we're feeding. So we can do, uh, some laser etching in our bowls. Um, uh, and that will be another stretch goal as well.

Speaker A: I love it. A question on the Kickstarter. We've got the pre launch page here. Uh, that device, is that what the device is going to look like or is that kind of a prototype?

Speaker B: That is what the device looks like.

Speaker A: It's super cool and I think it would go well because, you know, sometimes you see these things and they look plasticky and weird and like you don't want that device around there. I know that you say it, it's kind of like a, uh, uh, Keurig for your cat. Keurigs look cool. They've done a good job with design just like this. I think you've done an excellent job with design on this, which is important. Getting custom colors, doing some things. I think that sounds like an excellent idea. Uh, and the fact that it's a smart device, I, I love it. What about stretch goals? Do you have any in mind or. You don't have to reveal them if you, if they're just in mind. I know that the last Kickstarter I did, I had them in mind, but I did not reveal them until we hit the goals and then we shared them. M. Do you have any in mind?

Speaker B: Yeah. I would say to anyone listening, um, follow us and we will have some pretty exciting updates coming soon.

Speaker A: Cool. Where can they follow you?

Speaker B: Um, they can follow us. Uh, I'd say most Importantly, with the May 20th date, uh, they'd probably just want to Google Sphinx, um, and Kickstarter and we will be the first thing that pops up. Um, it's great Sphinx, the wet feeder for the smart web, feeder for cats. Um, and, and Instagram, um, Facebook. Tick Tock is all Sphinx at Sphinx Cat, Cat feeder.

Speaker A: There you go. And when you do the Kickstarter thing, uh, if you go to that pre launch, you can click on the black bar, it says notify me on launch. You want to do that because that's where if you do have updates, you have things you want to share, you're going to get those, those notifications. Uh, you do any other interviews, hopefully you'll put them in your updates area and people can kind of see what's going on or share their cat things with you. And I love it. I love it. I'll put all your social media that you want me to in the show notes so people can just click on it and follow you. It's important. Follow Sphinx and share it with your friends. Uh, Grant, thank you so much for being on. I can't tell you how much I love this. I think this is fabulous. Uh, you just got a project I love. Uh, Banner from. Go fund this, and, uh, I wish you nothing but the best. I hope that you rock this one out.

Speaker B: Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Ra.