TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan-based startup Fluv is bringing pet-sitting to the local gig economy.

Fluv’s founder Candace Chen (陳思璇) joined the Startup Island Taiwan podcast and explained her journey from having no background in tech, to running an app that now connects 100,000 pet owners to 3,000 pet-sitters. A dog lover herself, Chen noticed that there was no pet-sitting app after coming to Taiwan from the U.S.

“I realized there are so many dogs and cats, you see strollers at the MRT station with dogs inside instead of babies,” she said. Chen said after researching the market, she found it was big enough to sustain her planned pet-sitting business, and began to look for a partner.

“I figured the first thing is to figure out who has the tech background that can help me,” she said. After Chen pitched her idea to about 300 engineers at tech meetups and events, she found her business partner whom she works with now.

The pair were accepted into Appworks’ startup accelerator program, which has a self-reported network valued at over US$30 billion (NT$959.1 billion). Chen said Appworks helped the business learn how to fundraise and establish a network within Taiwan’s startup community.

Listen to the full conversation here, or on any major podcast platform.

She said now the company employs eight people who work remotely, and who have worked hard to localize the app for the Taiwan market, specifically, building users’ trust in the app. “People are not used to having sitters come to their house, so we really had to make it more professional instead of just having an app out there with reviews,” she said.

Fluv has targeted this issue by providing training to pet-sitters, and by giving pet owners a better look at the people and places their pets would be. “Airbnb blew up because they sent photographers to host’s homes to help them take pictures of their rooms,” she said.

“We decided to try that approach to gain trust, and it actually does work. Whoever has nicer pictures will get more customers,” she said.

Fluv is now looking at expanding overseas, and Chen said she will take the lessons learned in Taiwan abroad and continue to adapt to local markets. She said there is one competitor in Southeast Asia, but she is confident Fluv is different.

“Their approach is very price-driven and our approach is more trust and convenience-driven,” Chen said.

The business wants to create 100,000 jobs in the next three years, Chen said. “We want to create jobs for people that need the money, and we want pets to be loved,” she said.