Wagabond Pets Wins UMD's Dingman-Lamone Pitch Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wagabond Pets Wins $15,000 Grant at University of Maryland's Dingman-Lamone Center Pitch Competition
Smith School of Business student startup recognized for reimagining pet health records with AI-powered digital passport
April 30, 2026 — Wagabond Pets, a petcare technology startup founded at University of Maryland Smith School of Business students, has been awarded $15,000 at the Dingman-Lamone Center Pitch Competition held on April 29, 2026. The competition, hosted by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, recognizes the most promising student and alumni lead ventures emerging from the University of Maryland.
Wagabond Pets is building the first pet care records platform designed for pet owners rather than veterinary clinics. Its flagship product, Wagabond Pets, automatically stores and organizes pet records and petcare data, enabling owners to share just the information they choose with any veterinarian, groomer, or pet sitter with a tap via QR code.
"This recognition is an important validation of our team’s relentless effort and sacrifices, and it’s a win for every pet parent who has ever scrambled through their pet records in an emergency," said Dorian Stephens, co-founder of Wagabond Pets. "We started Wagabond Pets because the current pet care system is built around the clinic, not the pet owner. The Dingman Center, the judges, and the Smith School community saw the need to unify records storage and sharing to give pet owners control over their pets’ health."
"From day one, I've focused on building technology that works the way pet owners need. I wanted something to make managing Lloyd’s records seamless, provider-agnostic, and easy to share with anyone at any time so badly I just decided to make it myself." said Alex Sonne, co-founder of Wagabond Pets. "Winning at Dingman-Lamone after many months of non-stop, tedious work shows that all of the major risks I took to do this are worth it."
"This recognition is fuel for everything we're about to do," said Anthony Small, co-founder of Wagabond Pets. "We're going to invest these funds to get Wagabond Pets into the pockets of more pet parents, create products to augment the software, expand to Android, and build partnerships with the groomers and boarding facilities families already trust."
About Wagabond Pets Wagabond Pets was founded by three Smith School students: Dorian Stephens, Alex Sonne, and Anthony Small. The Wagabond Pets consumer app launched on the Apple App Store on January 4, 2026, and is available to download now. The company plans to expand its platform to serve groomers, kennels, and veterinarians in subsequent phases, as well as roll out support for Android devices. Download Wagabond Pets on the Apple App Store or learn more at WagabondPets.com.
About the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business supports student, faculty, and alumni entrepreneurs through programming, mentorship, capital, and competitions like the Dingman-Lamone Center Pitch Competition.
Media Contact: Anthony Small CMO, Wagabond Pets anthony.small@wagabondpets.com WagabondPets.com
