- Smalls announced it has raised $19 million in funding.
Smalls – the first-to-market DTC fresh cat-only food brand – announced it has raised $19 million. This most recent round was led by Companion Fund with additional investors including Left Lane Capital, Valor Capital, 301 INC (General Mills’ venture capital arm), and Ohio State University’s endowment fund. And Founder Collective is an additional investor from a previous round. Since launching in 2017, the brand has generated 8-figures in sales while feeding over 100,000 cats.
This funding round – which was from some of the biggest names in legacy pet food – indicates a consensus in the industry that the high-quality treatment of our pets is showing no signs of slowing and the premium pet food space will continue to complement the industry as it grows.
Plus Smalls is changing the way people feed their cats with ultra-high protein, human-grade fresh food for healthier, more energetic cats. For more than a century, cats’ needs have been secondary to their canine counterparts as pet brands tailor products to capture the dog-minded consumer. This resulted in a product that isn’t nutritionally sound for felines.
With this funding round, Smalls will further invest in its mission of creating fresh food for cat health in a humane and sustainable manner. And the funds will be used to make Smalls more accessible as the DTC-founded brand enters into retail for the first time and increases product offerings.
The recent fundraise will help expand headcount by nearly 25% during a time of mass layoffs and offers employees a fully remote and 4-day work week.
Pet Industry Market
The pet industry is expected to surpass over $277 billion by 2030 as pet parents increasingly invest in products to care for their pets in a way that mirrors how they would also care for themselves or a child. And Smalls is capitalizing on the opportunity to be the leading voice for cats providing humane and nutritional fresh food solutions for the more than 45.3 million cat parents in the U.S.
KEY QUOTES:
“Cats have been chronically underserved and underinvested in, despite there being cats in 25% of US households. Smalls is committed to investing exclusively in cats so we can continue to bring innovation to a customer in dire need of healthier products.”
— Matt Michaelson, Co-Founder and CEO of Smalls
“What set Smalls apart is their unwavering dedication to improving feline health and wellbeing. Cats are notoriously picky customers, but Smalls has cracked the code on creating fresh, minimally processed meal food plans that cats love, and we are excited to be part of their growth story.”
— Cindy Cole, DVM and Technical Partner at Companion Fund
