Stmz Schweizerische Tiermeldezentrale Ag

What Stmz Schweizerische Tiermeldezentrale Ag does

STMZ Schweizerische Tiermeldezentrale AG operates Switzerland's largest national database for lost and found pet reports, processing over 32,000 reports annually with 7,526+ active entries and serving approximately 1.4 million annual website visitors. Founded in 2001 as a nonprofit joint-stock company and headquartered in Stans, Switzerland, the organization runs a web and mobile platform that automatically matches new lost/found reports against existing entries using geographic proximity and animal characteristics. Its core differentiator is the Helfer-Netzwerk — a volunteer community of over 40,000 members who receive email or SMS alerts about missing pets in their registered region and assist with searches, temporary housing, and transport. The organization also operates a 24-hour emergency hotline (0848 for found animals, 0900 at CHF 1.95/min for missing animals) in partnership with Swiss Alertis, and an address directory of veterinarians, clinics, shelters, and animal-service providers across all Swiss cantons.

The business model combines nonprofit donation funding with diversified commercial streams. The core lost-and-found reporting service is free, while monetization comes from private donations (the primary funding source, with no government subsidies), paid premium "Top Listings" at CHF 30/week for homepage visibility, hardware product sales through stmzshop.ch (STMZ Animal Medal, CAT-LIFE safety collar), and usage-based revenue from the premium-rate telephone hotline. Distribution is entirely self-serve/digital via stmz.ch and the mobile app, supplemented by call-center support and a Facebook share integration that enables organic viral spread of listings. The platform is structurally integrated into Swiss animal-welfare infrastructure through automatic forwarding of discovery reports to cantonal reporting offices for legal compliance (CCS 720a) and through co-founding relationships with Swiss Animal Protection (PSA), the Swiss Veterinary Society (SVS), and ANIS.

Operations are exclusively Swiss-based with explicit geographic exclusions of Germany, Austria, France, and Italy. The organization is privately held by individual shareholders, was acquired by new owners in 2005 who professionalized the operation, and is led by Managing Director Bernadette Christen with a small named team spanning online retail/social media and operations. There are no disclosed institutional investors, no funding rounds, no subsidiaries, and no M&A activity in the available record.

Name

Stmz Schweizerische Tiermeldezentrale Ag

Legal name

STMZ Schweizerische Tiermeldezentrale AG

Website

https://stmz.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

STMZ Schweizerische Tiermeldezentrale AG operates Switzerland's largest national lost-and-found pet database, automatically matching reports across all cantons via a volunteer network of 40,000+ members and a 24/7 hotline, serving Swiss pet owners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pet Recovery Services

NAICS

Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services (81291)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Pet Care & Pet Services Platforms (Sitting, Walking, Grooming) (BPAMAHAI)

Keywords

• Pet lost and found
• Animal reporting database
• Pet recovery services
• Missing pet registry
• Volunteer search network

Headquarters

HQ city

Stans

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Donations: Private donations from individuals supporting the nonprofit mission. The organization receives no government funding.
2. Top/Premium Listings: Premium placement of missing pet reports on homepage for CHF 30 per week
3. Product Sales: STMZ branded products including pet ID medals and CAT-LIFE safety collars sold through stmzshop.ch
4. Phone Service Revenue: Revenue from premium-rate phone line for missing pet reports at CHF 1.95 per minute

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

STMZ operates Switzerland's largest national database for lost and found pet reports, processing over 32,000 reports annually across all cantons. The free core service allows pet owners to register missing/found animals through the website, mobile app, or 24/7 hotline, with automatic geographic matching between reports. A volunteer network of more than 40,000 helpers supports the service by receiving regional email/SMS alerts, complemented by paid premium listings, branded hardware products (animal medals, CAT-LIFE collars), and an address directory of animal service providers.

Product overview

STMZ Schweizerische Tiermeldezentrale AG operates a unified platform combining a national pet reporting database with complementary services. The core offering consists of the STMZ Database for registering and matching missing/found pet reports, paired with the STMZ Mobile Application and the STMZ Volunteer Helper Network for community-based search assistance. Additional products include the STMZ Animal Medal and CAT-LIFE collar for physical pet identification, the 24-Hour Emergency Hotline for round-the-clock support, Poster Creation Tool and Top Listings for enhanced visibility, and an Address Directory for locating animal services. The company also maintains an e-commerce presence via the STMZ Online Shop. The platform transmits found animal reports automatically to cantonal authorities to fulfill legal reporting obligations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• STMZ National Pet Reporting Database

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1.4 million annual website visitors and 32,000+ reports processed annually
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Swiss Alertis AGcoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides 24/7 call center services for the STMZ emergency hotline, enabling round-the-clock telephone availability for pet owners to report missing animals regardless of office hours.
• Nine Internet Solutions AGcoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides hosting infrastructure services for stmz.ch website and related digital platforms, ensuring reliable 24/7 online availability.
• Datatrans AGcoreTechnology or IntegrationHandles secure payment processing for online donations and purchases through the STMZ platform.
• RaiseNow AGcoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides donation processing services including TWINT QR code payments for the STMZ donation system.
• Amazon Web Services (SES)coreTechnology or IntegrationProvides email delivery infrastructure through Amazon Simple Email Service for STMZ notifications and communications.
• Swiss Cantonal Reporting OfficescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSTMZ automatically forwards all discovery reports to the appropriate cantonal reporting office, fulfilling legal reporting obligations (CCS 720a) for people who find animals.
• Animal Identity Service (ANIS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerANIS handles microchip registration for pets with chips. STMZ complements ANIS by providing database matching for the 80% of missing animals (mainly cats) that are not chipped.
• Swiss Animal Protection (PSA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founding partner of STMZ in 2001, along with Swiss Veterinary Association (SVS), to develop a national platform for pet reporting.
• Swiss Veterinary Association (SVS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founding partner of STMZ in 2001 to establish the national pet reporting platform.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Swiss Animal Protection (PSA / STS): Co-founder of STMZ and Switzerland's largest animal welfare organization. Comparable nonprofit animal welfare mission in Switzerland and existing strategic relationship that makes PSA both a partner and a related ecosystem player.

Regional players

• PetRescue: Australia's largest online pet adoption and lost-and-found directory, combining adoption listings with lost pet alerts. Comparable database/community model in a different (Australian) geographic market.
• Tasso e.V. Germany's largest pet registration and lost-and-found service, operating a national database and 24/7 hotline similar to STMZ. Comparable business model and use case but focused on the German market rather than Switzerland.

Broad incumbents

• HomeAgain: US-based microchip registration and pet recovery service with national database and lost-pet alerts. Operates the same microchip-plus-listing dual model that STMZ complements ANIS with in Switzerland, but at significantly larger scale across North America.
• Petco Love Lost: US national lost-pet database and matching service from Petco Love, using facial recognition technology for pet identification. Represents an incumbent-backed, AI-enhanced evolution of the same lost-and-found database model STMZ operates.
• AKC Reunite: American Kennel Club-affiliated pet recovery service offering microchip registration, lost-pet alerts, and a 24/7 hotline. Directly analogous to STMZ's national database and alert service, but bundled within a broader kennel club and veterinary ecosystem.

Emerging players

• PawBoost: US-based lost pet alert and community-matching platform with mobile-app-first design. Comparable technology approach (geographic alerts, community-driven search) and freemium model, though focused on the US pet owner market.

Direct peers

• ANIS (Animal Identity Service AG): Swiss national microchip registry that serves the same pet-owner and finder populations as STMZ. ANIS handles identification while STMZ handles lost-and-found matching—the two services are explicitly complementary and operate in the same Swiss regulatory and customer context.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stmz.ch%2F
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stmt-schweizerische-tiermeldezentrale

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stmz Schweizerische Tiermeldezentrale Ag