It’s a match – for the dogs!
The TL;DR: Four recent poly graduates launched an app for dog owners to connect on play dates and walks, as well as serve as a directory for places to go with dogs.
Sign up now: Get tips on how to grow your career and money
Four recent poly graduates created Wagglo, an app that allows dog owners to find new friends for their pets. The Wagglo team comprises (left to right) Pang Ben Yang, Timus Tan Shao Qi, Cailin Yeo Yao Can and Ervin Ng Yu Boon.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
- Four recent polytechnic graduates in Singapore created Wagglo, an app for dog owners to connect their pets for play dates and walks.
- The app features a Tinder-style swipe function to match dogs based on personality and includes a directory of nearby pet-friendly places.
- Wagglo aims to grow its user base first and currently offers the app for free, with plans for future monetisation.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – Users who swipe on this app may come across profile pictures with descriptions such as “extroverted and active”, “loves to eat”, “innocent-looking and cute but feisty”. If you “heart” a profile – and the other user does likewise as well – you receive a compatibility percentage and can chat with your “match”.
This may sound like a regular dating app, except the profile pictures and descriptions are of dogs. And it’s the owners who are connecting about their furbabies.
Call it the canine version of Tinder. Wagglo is a new app targeted at the Singapore dog community and the brainchild of four recent polytechnic graduates. The Apple version of the app was launched around late June, followed by the Android version of the app in late July.
The team comprises Timus Tan and Cailin Yeo, both of whom are 20 and graduated from Singapore Polytechnic in 2026, as well as Ervin Ng, 22, and Pang Ben Yang, 20, both of whom graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic in 2026. Only Pang is not a dog owner.
Tan, who was the primary mover behind getting together a team to work on the app, said he and his sister had an idea to create “an all-in-one pet app for dog owners in Singapore”. Based on a Euromonitor International report, the pet dog population in Singapore was around 114,000 in 2023.
However, the business administration poly grad did not know how to code.
He recalled: “I just went around asking people, ‘Do you know anyone that might be interested in, you know, running a venture with me?’”
Through recruiting friends and friends of friends, he pulled together a team, with Ng focusing on coding and development, Yeo on marketing, and Pang on outreach and public relations. Following the app’s launch, Ng and Pang stepped down and are no longer involved in the app’s operations due to personal reasons.
On the design of their app mimicking a dating app, Tan said it was to build “intentional interaction”. He said: “You can just swipe, you can see the profile, you can see the dog’s personality, so… (the dog owners) will understand the dog’s personality before they go on walks together.”
Wagglo team’s Timus Tan, 20, with his dog, two-year-old Taffy, looking at the app.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
To better understand the needs of potential users as they were developing the app, from March to June, the team visited dog parks and pet events to speak to dog owners.
This made them realise that dog owners turned to various sources of information when looking for places to go to. In response, they added another feature to their app, a distance-based Explore function that users can use to look for nearby pet-friendly cafes, dog runs, vets, groomers and pet shops.
One user, Priscilla Ding, 35, who owns two poodles, found out about the Wagglo app on Instagram. She downloaded it as she liked the idea of a dedicated platform to connect with other dog owners: “It’s quite fun and something new.”
Ding, who works in an administration-related job, said that prior to downloading the app about a month ago, she would connect with other pet parents by messaging them on Instagram.
She has so far spoken to a few users on Wagglo: “We ask about their daily life and what pet cafes and dog runs they go to.”
She has also arranged with another user, who owns a dachshund, to meet up at a cafe in end-August.
The team members have also been using the app to connect with other dog owners.
Said Yeo, who owns two pomskys: “I used the app and met someone in my building. I actually see her dogs quite often, so we had a chat and went for a walk with one of my dogs. Then, we scheduled to walk with my other dog.”
For now, the team said they aim to scale the free app and build a larger pool of users before thinking about monetisation.
For more information, visit @wagglo.sg on Instagram