Leawood firm partners with BestyBnB on tech platform to protect domestic violence survivors, their pets
November 11, 2021 | Startland News Staff
Fresh off news of its $2 million investment by a local businesswoman and prominent animal advocate, Kansas City-based startup BestyBnB this week announced a new pet reservation tech platform — built by a company in neighboring Leawood.
Available on mobile and desktop, the BestyBnB web-based platform enables DV shelters to search and secure long- and short-term pet boarding options for abuse victims’ pets during their time of crisis. Confidentiality is paramount, and BestyBnB has security and confidentiality measures in place to protect the identity and location of pet caregivers and abuse victims alike.
“We worked to weave technology features and functionality with high security so that survivors won’t put themselves, their pets or their institutions at risk,” said Caylor Luther, the senior software consultant at Leawood-based 27Global who led design on the BestyBnB platform.
Click here to learn more about BestyBnB.
Elevator pitch: BestyBnB provides a platform for Domestic Violence Agencies to search and select from a list of loving, qualified and vetted pet caregiver households who desire to foster the pets of abuse victims. With 95 percent of agencies not having the resources to house pets, BestyBnB is removing one of the largest barriers faced by Agencies today. Before BestyBnB, abuse victims had to decide between their and their children’s safety and that of their pets. It shouldn’t be a choice. And it no longer is.
27Global’s platform design for BestyBnB enables “hosts” to sign up to offer pet care and to detail the services they provide as well as the types of pets they’re willing to host. Pet owners can also create a profile for their pet and search for potential hosts.
The solution integrates mapping and messaging to facilitate locating and communicating between pet owners, and it hosts and handles billing for the hosts. 27Global also built an institution feature that enables institutions such as DV shelters to manage the pet-boarding and exchange process from start to finish.
“We’re honored to have the opportunity to deliver a solution that will make such a difference in people’s lives,” said Steve Roatch, CEO of 27Global.
Click here to explore 27Global.
The 27Global team designed BestyBnB’s platform to be scalable across all market types in the likelihood that BestyBnB expands its offerings in the future. The firm also prioritized the importance of security and privacy in the tech design to protect domestic violence survivors’ personal information.
In addition to the $2 million investment from Sally Root, BestyBnB also recently signed on six domestic violence shelters in the Kansas City area, including Rose Brooks Center, Hope House, Synergy Services, Safehome, Hope Haven of Cass County and YWCA-St. Joseph.
After achieving proof of concept in Kansas City, BestyBnB hopes to expand its services to other markets and verticals across the U.S. 27Global’s scalable technology has provided them the means to do exactly that. 27Global is performing ongoing maintenance and support for BestyBnB through its Site Reliability Engineering offering to continually maximize uptime, performance and security of the system.
“27Global is a true partner in every sense of the word,” said Andy Bond, co-founder of BestyBnB. “Their team is prepared, accountable and always willing to roll up their sleeves to creatively solve challenges. Add to that top-tier technical skills possessed by genuine people, and it creates an ease of collaboration that produces powerful software that looks beautiful and is easy to use. And if all of that wasn’t enough, they are really fun to work with, too.
“Bottom line: The BestyBnB platform is better due to 27Global’s involvement.”
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