pet-care
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SPRITZ knows what happens before the crowd arrives
A squash tournament, a seafood institution, a film festival: SPRITZ connects the invitation, the website, and the room. Its work offers a useful lesson in making attention last longer than an event.
Laika took pet shopping online. Then it opened the doors.
The Colombian pet retailer raised $65 million across three funding rounds, built a membership habit and moved into physical stores. Its next test is making that combination pay.
How Pet Valu Turned a $100 Million Warehouse Bet Into an 877-Store Playbook for Neighborhood Retailers
Pet Valu sells the recurring essentials pets cannot postpone, but its real product is local trust at national scale. A four-year logistics overhaul shows how the 50-year-old Canadian chain is trying to make that contradiction pay.
Spectrum Brands Sold the Locks for $4.36 Billion. Now Comes the Hard Part.
The company behind FURminator, Tetra, Cutter and Remington made billions by selling a business it had improved. Its next trick is harder: proving that a smaller portfolio can grow without losing the scale that made the collection useful.
Vetted Bet That Pet Care Should Feel Like a Game - and Pay You Back
A Miami Beach startup closed its vet clinics, bought an Israeli AI app, and rebuilt itself around Care Coins - digital points you earn for walking, brushing and feeding your dog, then trade for real discounts. The pitch: what if Strava and Duolingo had a puppy?
The Employee Benefit That Only Sends a Bill When Care Shows Up
CorporateCARE Solutions is betting that family care works better as infrastructure than as a perk - and that employers should pay for the hours their people actually use.
The Venture Fund Shopping the Aisles Before Everyone Else
Springdale Ventures bets that the next breakout company may look less like software and more like a jar, pouch or bottle. Its edge is knowing what happens after a product leaves the pitch deck and meets a shelf.
The Investors Who Put a Creative Agency Inside the Fund
CAVU Consumer Partners does not stop at writing checks. Its operator-investor model helped turn a farmer's-market vinegar drink into Poppi - and made brand design, distribution and talent part of the investment product.
The Pet Store That Followed Ukraine West - Then Doubled in Size
MasterZoo lost access to most of its stores when Russia's full-scale invasion began. It answered by moving with its customers, rebuilding its logistics and growing from a regional chain into a national pet-care system.
Petco Wants the Food Aisle to Lead to the Exam Room
The 60-year-old retailer is betting that kibble, grooming, vaccines and loyalty can work as one system. Its turnaround depends on making that loop useful enough to beat both big-box convenience and online price comparison.
The $15.5 Billion Store That Sells Everything but Tractors
Tractor Supply built a national retail machine around feed bags, fence posts and people who fix things themselves. Now it is betting that the same network can become rural America's pet-care counter, delivery hub and indispensable weekly stop.
Nestlé Purina North America
Purina turned a checkerboard feed business into a pet-care system that reaches the grocery aisle, the veterinary clinic and the modern home. Its advantage is less one famous bag than a century of science, factories and brands built for almost every bowl.
Pet Supplies Plus
Pet Supplies Plus built a national pet-retail network around an intentionally small idea: make the weekly food run feel local, fast and useful. The result is a franchise system where dog washes, delivery routes and adoption events do as much work as the shelves.
Compana Pet Brands
Compana built a pet-care portfolio that stretches from the living room to the barnyard. Its wager is that expertise across species - and a talent for integrating niche brands - can turn an old feed business into a modern wellness platform.
Dutch
Dutch is a direct-to-consumer pet telehealth platform that connects dog and cat owners with licensed veterinarians for unlimited video consultations, personalized treatment plans, and - where state law allows - prescription medication delivered to the door. Founded in 2021 by Hims & Hers co-founder Joe Spector, Dutch runs a membership model starting around $15/month, operates in all 50 states, and has logged more than 700,000 virtual visits while building an AI-first veterinary EMR and its own prescription and pharmacy infrastructure.
Encore Vet Group
Encore Vet Group is a Saratoga Springs, New York-based community of veterinary hospitals founded in 2018 by Ted Sprinkle, DVM, Lance Sprinkle, and Bo Iler. Rather than running a top-down corporate chain, Encore acquires established community and legacy veterinary practices and then hands the day-to-day medicine and culture back to the local teams while layering on business support, leadership training, and mental-health resources. Backed by private-equity firm North Castle Partners, the group has grown to roughly 60 hospitals and around 1,900-2,200 team members, and it operates education platforms like Encore Performance Academy and the MentorCore virtual mentorship program for new graduates.
Oh Norman!
Oh Norman! is a New York-based direct-to-consumer pet wellness brand co-founded by actress and animal advocate Kaley Cuoco and operator Katie Hunt (early Warby Parker, former Hinge CBO). Named after Cuoco's late rescue dog, the company makes vet-formulated, all-natural, eco-friendly dog and cat products - supplements, treats, dental and grooming items - and donates a share of every purchase to animal rescue. The brand built a community of roughly 150,000 organic followers before selling a single product, raised $5.28M across seed rounds, and launched into national retail via Chewy in 2025.
Koala Health
Koala Health is a Boston-based digital pet pharmacy built by alumni of PillPack (acquired by Amazon). It packages and delivers chronic pet medications organized by date and time, connecting pet parents directly with their veterinarians through a mobile-first experience. The platform reaches 80+ million pet owners across all 50 states and integrates with more than 25,000 independent veterinary clinics.
Pawp
Pawp is a New York-based digital health clinic for pets that gives members unlimited 24/7 access to licensed veterinarians by chat and video, plus an optional $3,000 emergency fund - all on a single low monthly plan that covers up to six dogs and cats per household, with no age, breed, or pre-existing-condition restrictions. Pitched as an affordable alternative to traditional pet insurance, it aims to cut out unnecessary vet visits and prevent the financial euthanasia that happens when owners can't afford emergency care.