Entrepreneur Sean Valle calls himself a “crazy pet owner,” having built a great life for his five pets. But, if something were to happen to Valle, he wanted to make sure the lifestyle he created for his pets could be upheld.
Launched in August 2024, Cotl is Valle’s solution: a platform that helps pet owners create care plans in preparation of any event that would render them unable to continue taking care of their pets. The name “Cotl” is an acronym for pets Valle has had in the past: Charlie, Odin, Thor and Loki.
The startup’s platform facilitates a user’s formal arrangements with people who may take over care of their pets in the event the pet owner cannot. These designated caretakers may be family, friends, or adoption groups, and both parties sign a legal agreement with Cotl to ensure the caregiver can retrieve the pets if and when they need to.
Developing the Cotl concept
Valle has a background as a corporate lawyer working with tech and life science startups.
“As I advance in my legal career and continue to flesh out this idea, it just became a perfect merging between those interests,” Valle said.
Beyond helping pet owners designate caregivers, Cotl’s services include a financial plan whereby customers can hold funds in an interest-earning Towne Bank account. Valle Legal—Valle’s law firm—works with Cotl and holds funds as the trustee behind the plans. A pet owner can set aside money all at once or build up savings over time, and the law firm takes 5% to cover trust management and administrative fees.
The pet owner gets to decide what the funds will be used for in the case their designated caregiver ultimately needs to assume care of the pets in question. For example, if the owner brings their dog to doggy day care or gives their cat a special treat on its birthday, they can specify that funds be allocated for those specific purposes. Cotl will follow up with the caregiver to ensure the money is being used as the owner intended.
“The goal here is really just having peace of mind, both that my pets can still live a life that I wanted to be able to provide for them, but also that I know that the people who are going to take care of my pets will not have to be burdened by that,” Valle said.
Cotl works as an account for the owner where they can add or remove pets from their plan. The software is sold at a one-time $99 price for users to set up their plan, and then $4.99 per month with an additional $2 per month for each additional pet. The monthly subscription gives users access to ongoing pet planning support, as well as Cotl’s emergency support services.
These emergency support services are designed to minimize disruption to the animal’s life if something does happen to their owner. Cotl customers get pet tags, emergency wallet cards and stickers to put in their houses or on their cars. The purpose of these items is so emergency responders can contact Cotl in the case of an emergency, such that Cotl can then contact the designated caregiver and help put agreed-upon plans into action.
QUICK BITS
Startup: Cotl
Founder: Sean Valle
Founded: 2024
Team size: 5
Location: Raleigh
Website: www.cotl.pet
Funding: Bootstrapped; currently raising pre-seed
Cotl has several target markets, one being that of pet owners 65 and older. Valle said that those in this age group face a real chance their pets could outlive them. He noted that older pets that end up in shelters often have a hard time getting adopted.
“Without a plan like [those Cotl facilitates], there’s actually a substantial risk that those pets would actually not be able to have a comfortable, safe home to continue to live in,” Valle said.
Cotl also offers horse-specific care plans, as horses are much more expensive than household pets and may have specialized care needs and ownership arrangements.
