All right, guys.
As promised, I have our results.
Look, it says "Lazuli's DNA results".
I didn't expect this to be emotional. Ah!
Are are you ready to meet the world's most interesting animal entrepreneurs?
I only wanted to do what I loved.
My name is Dariany Santana
and this is Wags to Riches.
With the popularity of DNA tests to discover
our ancestry, we've all become fascinated with figuring out where we come from.
But have you guys ever thought about where your pets come from?
Our next guest is Anna Skaya and she is the CEO of BasePaws,
which is a company
that's combining science and ingenuity to discover the lineage of your cat.
Oh, also, I already got my DNA test and the results are in:
I'm 100% the greatest host of all time.
Hi. Hi, I'm Dariany.
I'm Lara. Hi, I'm Anna. I'm the CEO of BasePaws.
So I love animals and specifically love cats, but I don't have one right now...
But I do. Awesome.
So before we came here, we tested her DNA and did the dental cat kit.
Yum yum yum. This is your cat's DNA.
We're going to take this to the lab and then we're going
to do a bunch of science stuff and then we'll be back,
so then I can tell you what kind of cat it is, OK?
We have some live specimens for you.
Yeah, bring me the specimens awesome, very cool.
With that, I'm actually going to duck back behind the camera.
OK. Yes, she's got to go direct this episode. Sure.
Why do you think that having this information means so much to pet owners?
Oh my god. Pets are our kids. They're our babies.
And the more you know them,
the better you can take care of them, the better you can feed them.
We want you to be doing these tests
at home on your own time, in a preventative way.
So you're never blindsided.
You don't want to be running off
to the veterinarian spending thousands of dollars
because there was something that you did not see.
We are empowering the pet owner
to use science in the way that makes their pets live longer.
So BasePaws is giving cats, like, what?
More like 16 lives instead of nine?
Totally, cats right now, the average age for a cat is between ten and eleven,
which is a shame a cat can live until they're 25 years old
if we, as cat parents, do more to understand them better.
I didn't know they could live until 25. They can.
This is going to make cat people very excited.
Welcome to our lab.
Whoa. It's like a real lab.
Oh, it's a real lab coat. Fancy.
I love this look.
It's giving me very crazy cat lady meets Bill Nye the Science Guy.
OK, this isn't a catwalk, this is a lab.
All right. Let me show you the science.
So we've been testing humans and dogs for a long time, but why,
what's the delay with cats?
Nobody wanted to touch cats. It was hard.
There wasn't a lot of data to start with, and many companies thought
cat people just weren't into this. They were all wrong.
BasePaws has proven year over year that people really want this product.
So much science.
Julie runs our lab here at BasePaws. Julie, this is Dariany.
She brought you some cat samples.
So chemistry was never my forte.
How did you get this happening?
I have an awesome team.
It took a long time to go from the idea to actually having the product launch
because there's so little that we know about cats.
Like we started basically from scratch.
You started from "scratch".
Okay, Julie, let's do science things.
OK, so I'm going to set these samples here for now. OK.
I'm gonna give you some gloves.
We have extracted the cat samples from...
Oh god, this is the wrong way.
Sorry, one second.
I got it. Yeah, 96 different cats.
I'm trusting you with a lot of cat samples.
So, are you ready? So...
you can just drop off the bodily fluids of your pet normally?
Yes, you can, but not in a normal envelope.
So we ship you all of your shipping needs, including a biohazard bag,
and the biohazard bag will take the sample of your cat.
So you were on Shark Tank?
Is that really what launched BasePaws?
It actually was.
Took us two years
to get to having an MVP, which is the first version of your product,
and we took that MVP to Shark Tank and we got a deal.
When there's cats involved, business just rattles with excitement.
We use a lot of social media to sell our kits and cats rule the internet.
Our most popular product is a DNA test,
which looks at your cat's DNA and measures it and compares it to other breeds.
What kind of cat do you think she is?
A dragon cat? she
might be part crazy, part cheetah, part dog,
half dragon, half tiger, half dalmatian. I can see that.
And I'm going to put a little pressure down.
See, they've attached. Wow. Do you want to give it a try?
I'm very nervous that I'm going to mess this up.
You can't mess this up.
There are 96 samples. No pressure.
Don't mess it up.
So I think what's really cool is that you guys
literally deliver the kits and then deliver it back.
What made you want to go that route?
Millennials love subscription businesses because they love things
to be delivered to their home.
We do. Having an in-home product allows you to keep your cat at home safe.
And it's a great model.
You've acquired the customer once, and you get to monetize them
for as long as you're making good products.
DNA testing is a single product and a single swab.
Your DNA does not change.
However, we have a bunch of new products that are launching or launched,
and they are products that we would say are recurring in revenue.
For example, this dental test - incredibly important
for you as the pet owner to test your cat a few times a year.
And we have a slew of other products that are being launched soon
that are really focused on delivering value ongoing.
You're really creating a lifetime relationship
with these customers as you're extending the life of these cats.
Go all the way down, there you go, and then push the "up" button.
And then I press "up".
God, I feel like I'm playing Connect Four.
OK, just push it once.
I did it. You did it! Did you guys see that?
I did it! I did science.
So now we're going to measure the cat DNA on this QuantiFluor machine.
Oh, my gosh. It's like a CD drive.
Yeah. What are we measuring exactly?
So we're going to measure the intensity of the fluorescence in each well.
Oh my gosh, look at all these numbers. Yeah. It's like bingo.
Your sample has a high number.
We did a really good job.
The most interesting thing about BasePaws is that we really help
you get to know your pet better, right?
So you most likely rescued your cat, right, from a shelter.
You bring it into your home.
They sleep in your bed, they play with your kids.
They eat your food.
But you know nothing about them, and DNA testing is one of
the only things that you can do to really get to know them better.
Your results are in!
Want to take a look? No, no, no! I don't want to know.
I promised Lara that we're going to do like a whole
like cat breed reveal together and I do not... With her kids?
Yeah, and I don't want that three year old mad at me.
All right, guys.
As promised, I have our results! Rag doll.
That's what we thought, cause of the blue eyes.
These are the wild cats that they found in her DNA tiger,
leopard, cougar and cheetah.
Lazuli, you're the wildest cat.
They list the genes and they list the mutation.
She looks like she's in really good health.
How do you feel knowing all the different breeds inside of your cat?
It's magic. Actually, it's "meow-gik".
Don't mind my cat walk.
So many people thought it was "meow" or never.
You're "em-paw-ered".
It's "purr-fect". Talk about a "cat-astrophe", wait.
BasePaws has the "purr-fect" test.
You're killing the pun game today.
I know you're part lion.