DeTICKtor — Detect to Protect

The Problem

Ticks are hard to find.
The consequences aren't.

Ticks can transmit serious diseases to animals within hours of attachment. Yet for most caregivers, the only screening method available is a slow, manual inspection that often misses what it's looking for.

🔍

Easy to miss, hard to spot

Ticks can be as small as a poppy seed. On dark-furred or thick-coated animals, visual inspection alone frequently fails—even for experienced caregivers.

⏱️

Manual checks don't scale

Shelters handling dozens of animals each day simply don't have the time or staffing to perform thorough, hands-on tick checks for every animal that comes through intake.

⚠️

Delayed detection, real consequences

Missed ticks can lead to tick-borne illnesses that affect the animal's health, complicate shelter operations, and increase the cost and complexity of care.

75%

of tick-borne disease cases in animals are linked to ticks that went undetected for too long

14M+

animals enter U.S. shelters each year, many without any standardized tick screening

<2 min

is our goal for a reliable, non-invasive tick screening check per animal

The Solution

Screening that supports
the people who care

DeTICKtor is a handheld, non-invasive device designed to help identify the presence of ticks on an animal—without requiring sedation, shaving, or extensive handling.

It's not a replacement for veterinary judgment. It's a tool that gives caregivers faster, more consistent screening—so they can act sooner and with greater confidence.

Non-invasive and animal-friendly screening

Designed for high-throughput environments like shelters

Supports existing care workflows, doesn't replace them

Quick screening time per animal

DeTICKtor team demonstrating the prototype at Rev Ithaca

The team demonstrating an early prototype at Rev: Ithaca Startup Works

Who It's For

Built for the people on the front lines of animal care

We're starting where the need is greatest—and where better screening can make the biggest difference.

Primary Focus

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Animal Shelters

High volume, limited time, high stakes. Shelters need reliable screening tools that can keep up with intake flow and protect every animal that walks through the door.

✂️

Groomers & Veterinary Clinics

Professionals who handle animals daily and want an additional screening layer to catch what hands-on checks might miss.

🐾

Multi-Pet Households

A future opportunity for pet owners managing multiple animals who want peace of mind between vet visits. (Coming later.)

Meet the Founders

Five people, one hackathon,
and a dog named Simba

It started when Sahana's dog Simba kept coming home with ticks—and the worry that came with each one. She walked into the Cornell Animal Health Hackathon with an idea. By the end of that weekend, the five of us had become a team. That was over a year and a half ago. We haven't stopped since.

Sahana Kakarla

M.Eng. Engineering Management '25, Cornell

The one who started it all. Simba turned her into a tick-checking obsessive — and that obsession became DeTICKtor. Brings big-picture thinking and the drive that turns weekend ideas into companies.

Ehlaam Imran

M.Eng. Engineering Management '25, Cornell

Jumped in the moment she heard the pitch and didn't look back. Brings structure, strategy, and a sharp eye for what matters.

Nilabha Mukherjea

M.Eng. Biomedical Engineering '25, Cornell

The detail-oriented one. If something needs to be precise, measured, and exactly right — Nilabha's already on it. Anchors the team's technical work.

Vivian Hu

B.S. Biomedical Engineering '27, Cornell

The quickest thinker in the room — always ready with a creative angle no one else saw coming. Often the one pushing the boldest ideas forward.

Amy Salim

DVM '28, Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine

The team's animal health expert. Brings the clinical knowledge that keeps DeTICKtor grounded in real veterinary needs.

Our Story

How DeTICKtor began

DeTICKtor didn't start in a boardroom. It started at a hackathon—a group of students at Cornell University who cared about animal health and saw a gap no one was filling. What began as a weekend project became a mission.

January 2025

Cornell Animal Health Hackathon

Our team formed around a shared observation: there was no fast, reliable, non-invasive way to screen animals for ticks. Over one intense weekend, we built our first concept prototype.

🏆 Winning Team — Most Novel & Innovative Animal Health Solution

May – August 2025

Rev: Ithaca Startup Works — Hardware Accelerator

Selected for Rev's prototyping accelerator, where we developed our concept into a working hardware prototype, conducted early user research with shelters, and began refining our approach.

September – December 2025

Rev Hardware Protofacturing Accelerator

Continued development through Rev's advanced hardware program, focused on moving from prototype to a design ready for pilot testing in real shelter environments.

April 2026

Startup Grind Conference — San Francisco

We'll be presenting DeTICKtor at Startup Grind's global conference, connecting with investors, partners, and fellow founders working on real-world problems.

Upcoming

The team brainstorming at the Cornell hackathon

Brainstorming at the Cornell Animal Health Hackathon, 2025

Presenting at the Cornell Animal Health Hackathon

Presenting our concept to judges at the hackathon

Developing our prototype at Rev: Ithaca Startup Works

Showcasing our prototype and early demo

Why It Matters

Better screening. Healthier outcomes.

🛡️

Preventative Care

Catching ticks earlier means intervening before disease transmission becomes likely—shifting from reactive treatment to proactive screening.

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Faster Detection

A purpose-built tool can screen animals more quickly and consistently than manual methods, freeing caregivers to focus on the animals that need them most.

💚

Less Stress for Everyone

A gentler screening process is better for the animal, easier on the caregiver, and creates a calmer environment—especially in busy shelter settings.

A better way to find ticks before they cause harm