Pet food brand Drools raises $60 Mn in its maiden funding round

Pet food brand Drools has announced that it raised $60 million in funding from private equity firm L Catterton at a valuation of $600 million. This is one of the largest investments to date in the pet care industry in India.

Drools will leverage L Catterton’s category expertise and brand building capabilities to further strengthen its position in the country’s fast-growing pet food market, the pet food company said in a press release. 

The investment also marks L Catterton’s foray into the sector in India. The firm has made investments in consumer brands such as FabIndia and Sugar Cosmetics.

Founded by Fahim Sultan in 2010, Drools claims to command a significant 38% market share in the pet food space. The brand now exports its products to over 22 countries, including Australia, Israel, and the UAE. It further plans to enter the Russian market this year and the United States in the near future. Drools operates three production facilities to cater to a vast number of pets, offering a diverse range of 650 SKUs, with 50% of the prescription diet coming from the brand.

With a portfolio of dog and cat food brands such as Drools, Pure Pet, Meat Up, Canine Creek, and Kitty Yum, the company says that it is the largest seller in the segment on Amazon with a 100% e-commerce presence. The firm sells its product online through e-commerce websites, and offline via over 34,000 points of sale spanning specialty vet shops, veterinary clinics, and general trade stores.

The company also runs on SAP, Salesforce and other technology platforms.

Drool's revenue from operations surged 65.3% to Rs 355.8 crore during FY22 as compared to Rs 215.25 crore in FY21. As per the company's standalone financial statement with the RoC, its profits jumped 4.5X to Rs 35.78 crore in FY22 from Rs 7.9 crore in FY21. It aims to double the topline in the next couple of years.

The company competes with the likes of Heads Up for Tails, Goofy Tails, LUVIN, among others. Sequoia-backed Heads Up for Tails is also one of the top funded companies in this space which scooped up $37 million in its maiden institutional round in August 2021.