Our Story

We are two Guatemalan American brothers, Saul and Erik, who are on a mission to build stronger relationships between pets and their parents. Saul is an MIT and Stanford engineering graduate, and Erik is a rocket scientist helping astronauts reach the Moon and Mars. Together we use our engineering backgrounds and experience fostering dozens of dogs to invent products that are meant to be enjoyed by pets and humans alike.

Our Milunova story began in the fall of 2018 where after living and working abroad in France for a couple years, Saul decided to move to Houston with Erik and start Milunova. It had always been a dream of ours to start our own company and we felt it was time to choose ourselves and start our journey. At that time, Erik had three dogs of his own and would very often foster dogs too. We experienced first hand the positive impact dogs can have on your life, and how much we can learn from them. It was those day to day interactions with Erik's dogs and the fosters that now inspire the products we make.

Together we spend our days going from bottle feeding litters of puppies, to prototyping and testing new dog products. We strive to make every moment with your dog special.

About Us

Dogs inspire us to make every moment a little brighter. We founded milunova to develop amazing products that will help us share that inspiration with others.

Saul Lopez: Mechanical Engineering B.S. from MIT and M.S. from Stanford with focus in engineering design, manufacturing, and mechatronics. Inventor and published author, previously co-founded 3D printed drone startup, and worked at SpaceX, Google ATAP, and Airbus.

Erik Lopez: Aerospace Engineering B.S. and M.S. from University of Illinois, with focus in systems engineering. Commercial Pilot License. NASA Mission Control Propulsion Officer, previously founded Student Aircraft Builders. Experience fostering over 70 dogs and cats.

Our Company's Namesake

Erik's dogs are named Millie, Luna and Nova. Their names together make Milunova. Each one of them is not only an important part of our lives but essential to our company. We do what we do to make their lives better. When it comes to the products we make, they are often the inspiration and the first product testers.

Luna

Luna is a Shepherd/Husky mix and is Erik's first dog. She is energetic, extremely intelligent and very much a diva. Aside from dogs, Erik has a passion for Space and Aviation. As a result, all of his dogs are named with that in mind. Luna was named after the Spanish word for moon. Erik was reminded of the moon when looking at Luna's one white eye.

Nova

Nova is a Golden Retriever and Erik's second dog. She is the happiest, wiggliest dog you will ever meet! In astronomical terms, a nova is an exploding star whose brightness dramatically increases. A perfect name for Nova as she brightens the day of everyone around her with her infectious joy.

Millie

Millie is an Australian Shepherd and Erik's third dog. She is very affectionate, cuddly and gives nonstop kisses. She was named after Amelia Earhart, the fearless female pilot. As it turns out, Millie is far from fearless considering she is easily spooked by new things and experiences!