• Look what the cat (owner) dragged in — healthy pet food 
• VC pet tech appetite wanes 
• A sustainable packaging pledge

\Analysis 

Purrsonalised health: The startups and VCs betting on pet genetics

Direct-to-consumer home genetic kits allowed startups like 23andMe to offer health and ancestry insights at an affordable cost. Now, similar tech is coming to pets.

It’ll help vets, breeders and pet parents to verify parentage and breed, diagnose diseases and plan for future health risks. 

Animal genetics market revenue is predicted to exceed $6.4bn by 2027, up from $99m in 2020. Sifted dug into the sector and found the startups to watch — and the VCs watching them. 

Read about the sector here.

Pet tech news roundup

😺 Healthy cat food startup KatKin raises €21.6m

Last month, direct-to-consumer (DTC) fresh cat food startup Katkin closed its Series A — led by Verlinvest and Perwyn — which it plans to use for expanding manufacturing and research. The company, founded by siblings Brett and Nikki O’Farrell, says it’s doubling in size every six months as cat owners seek more appealing meals than kibble. Similar to other startups in the DTC food ecosystem, the company is developing more personalised offerings that take into account age, weight, activity level, body type and prefurred flavours. 

📉 VC pet tech appetite wanes

Investors have pumped €64.4bn into European pet tech startups across 20 deals this year — a drop in both deal count and capital spending and a quarter of the 2021 sum. Reasons include an overall venture slowdown as well as the impact of the cost of living crisis on the pet sector, which is expected to take its toll on hyper-premium pet products. Supply chain issues are also impacting the economics of many businesses involved in manufactured and physical products. 

🇬🇧 Canadian vet tech startup targets UK after Series B raise

Pet telehealth startup Vetster is set to launch in the UK following a $30m Series B earlier in the year. The company offers 24/7 appointments for non-urgent problems via video, voice and messaging, and covers 20 species. A Vetster-commissioned study found two thirds of vets are struggling to keep up with demand. Vetster offers appointments in conditions like dermatology, gastrointestinal, respiratory, urinary tract, ophthalmology and musculoskeletal problems, which would allow clinics to focus on surgery, bloodwork and emergencies. 

🧑🏻‍🤝‍🧑🏽 TrustedHousesitters hits member milestone 

UK-based pet sitting company TrustedHousesitters, which connects owners with sitters, reached 100k members, achieving 25% growth since March 2020. The cessation of lockdowns and travel restrictions, combined with the surge in pet ownership during the pandemic, are likely to have contributed. It’s the third largest pet-sitting platform globally. 

🚗 After April Fool's joke, Honda launches car accessories 

The Japanese auto giant is offering dog guards, rubber mats and boot mats for some cars sold in the UK. An April Fool's Day spoof announcement of a “dog copilot front seat”, to be joined later by offerings for hamsters, rabbits and fish, was so successful as a marketing ploy that the company decided to develop an actual product pack. 

Sifted Suggests

Energy crisis hits aquatics sector

Spiralling energy costs could have a devastating impact on aquatics, an energy-intensive niche due to heating, electricity and maintenance of fish tanks, with shops and wholesalers facing decisions to euthanize livestock. So says the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA). Fish are the most populous pets in the UK, with around 100m. Rehoming could put additional pressure on the sector as consumers look to reduce their own energy costs. 

Sustainable packaging pledge

A coalition of pet food companies — Canidae, Earth Animal, Instinct, Petcurean and Primal Pet Foods — have signed a Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) pledge at Superzoo. The programme aims to increase participation in recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by the year 2025. The PSC estimates that 99% of multi-layer packaging in pet food and processing doesn't contain a sustainable end-of-life solution.