The pandemic has led to the rise – and the rise – of pet parenting across the world.
Petex data reveals that India is the fastest growing petcare market in the world. After the pandemic push, it is expected to grow at 14 percent annually to become a $490 million market by 2022. The pet food market alone is likely to cross $310 million by 2022, with the dog food segment expected to dominate as the largest revenue generator, followed by the cat and fish food segments. The growth is likely to continue.
According to a Bonafide Research report, the Indian pet care industry is expected to reach Rs 5,474 crore by 2025, with a CAGR of more than 19 percent.
As more and more Gen Z and millennials turn pet parents, we take a look at five startups fulfilling the needs of the rapidly evolving petcare industry in India:
Heads Up for Tails
Founded in 2008 by Rashi Sanon, (HAUF) offers a variety of pet products and services, including pet food, collars, leashes, and harnesses, dog bowls, dog clothing, car grooming kits, cat bow ties, cat furniture, and scratchers. It additionally offers customised items like personalised name tags, accessories, bedding, diners and so on.
In an earlier conversation with YourStory, Rashi Sanon, Founder, said, "At HUFT, we believe pets are family. And family deserves only the best. Pets are at the heart of everything we do, and all our offerings are a celebration of who they are and our relationship with them. Every single day we work toward and in tandem with our vision statement - ‘For every home to experience the joys of raising pets as family’."
In August 2021, the startup raised $37 million in a Series A round led by Verlinvest and Sequoia Capital India.
The funds were used to accelerate strategic expansion to new markets and for product innovation.
Pawfect.xyz
Founded in 2019 by Swapnil Shah and Udit Chugh, is a Pune-based petcare startup that offers everything pet parents need.
Pet parents can book a doorstep prepping meeting, find a temporary stay or pet trainer, purchase pet food, buy medicines, and much more.
Earlier in an conversation with YourStory, Udit Chugh said, "We launched an early version of the pet supplies ordering system to help pet parents in Pune during the current situation (during pandemic), and it got massive response since we were doing free deliveries, and weren't charging any additional charges,"
Supertails
Founded in 2021 by Varun Sadana, Vineet Khanna, and Aman Tekriwal, is a Bengaluru-based digital petcare startup that promises trustworthy veterinary care and a one-stop solution for pet food and supplies.
The digital telehealth counselling service is made accessible by a group of experienced in-house veterinarians. The startup also offers doorstep delivery of pet supplies across the country.
In September 2021, startup in raised Rs 5.75 Cr in venture debt from Alteria Capital.
In an earlier conversation, Varun Sadana told YourStory, "Supertails has designed this solution specifically for a generation that expects and looks for accessible, expert-led solutions online, with an inhouse team of pet behaviour experts ready to help the parents at their convenience.
“The service is unique. Pet behaviour experts focus on making the parent understand their pet better and, in turn, train their pet themselves. This eliminates one of the biggest challenges of traditional pet training services, where a pet gets used to following only the trainer and not the parent. The focus is on the pet’s relationship with its parents."
Wiggles
Founded in 2019 by Venky Mahadevan, Anuskha Iyer, and Rajh V Iyer, is a D2C petcare brand. It offers doorstep convenience and services like vet on call, grooming, training, boarding, and online veterinary and behavioural consultation plans for pets.
In an earlier conversation with YourStory, Anushka Iyer, Founder and CEO, said, "Wiggles has been at the helm of India’s petcare industry. Over the last three years, our bond with pets and pet parents has only strengthened and this has given us a deeper insight and understanding into the needs of pets and their parents. Leveraging these learnings and insights, we have been able to introduce products that filled grey spaces and created new categories."
In October 2021, the startup raised $5.5 million in a pre-Series A round led by Anthill Ventures to focus on R&D for new products.
Just Dogs
Founded in 2011 by Ashish Anthony and Poorvi Anthony, Just Dogs is an Ahmedabad-based omnichannel retailer for pet products. The platform offers dog and cat food, supplements, accessories, and other pet items such as crates, beds, and clothing, among others. The startup serves 1.5 lakh customers and has a presence across 42 stores in India.
"With over 30 million pets, the Indian pet industry is just coming of age, becoming the fastest-growing pet market in the world. There has been an evolution from dog owners to a rising number of pet parents who treat pets as their children, leading to informed consumers graduating towards higher quality, premium products. This is creating a large opportunity for the company to capture, "Ashish said in an earlier conversation with YourStory.
Edited by Teja Lele Desai