Home deliveries for pets attract investors

Dog Heroes is a Lombardy-based startup that was only launched last November but has already raised a €400,000 funding round for the development of its business, which aims to spark a health revolution in the dog food market (a market that in Italy is worth over €1 billion).

Set up by three young entrepreneurs from Milan, the company produces fresh dog food based on personalised meal plans created by veterinary nutritionists and divided into ready-to-serve portions for home delivery.

The project convinced a group of private investors who were impressed by the results achieved in the first few months of business, which also coincided with the lockdown period during which the customer base increased threefold and deliveries were extended to the whole of Italy.

The funding obtained will be used to support growth projects for marketing, product development and operations. The company adopted a sustainable approach right from the start and uses 100% recyclable cardboard packaging with compostable and biodegradable wool insulation.

The market is potentially enormous (there are 11 million dogs in Italy, one for every six inhabitants), as reflected by the fact that two other companies similar to Dog Heroes have attracted even larger investments: in London, Butternut Box has raised the equivalent of US$ 28 million, while New York-based firm The Farmer's Dog has received US$ 49 million.

Image credits: Dog Heroes