The Indian pet care market is valued at $569.4 million as of 2022, a fraction of the global $235 billion market. However, it is one of the fastest-growing markets, with an estimated CAGR of 16.5 percent. On International Dog Day (August 26), a look at some pet care start-ups in the country.
1. Head Up for Tails: Rashi Narang's Heads Up for Tails (HUFT) got its big retail break from a tiny kiosk at the Select City Mall in New Delhi in 2008. In 2016, Sandeep Atmaram and Ridhima Coelho, founders of Paws The Pet Store, Bengaluru, came on board as co-founders. Today, HUFT has 75 stores in 15 cities and 45 pet spas as well. The HUFT Foundation runs grassroots programs that include sterilization drives, feeding programs, adoption drives and setting up reflective collars for street dogs, both independently and in collaboration with NGOs.
2. Supertails: A digital petcare entity, Bengaluru-based Supertails was founded by Varun Sadana, Vineet Khanna and Aman Tekriwal. At Supertails, you can shop for products by dog breed, chat with an expert vet, order specialized prescription diet, avail 24-hour delivery on pet medicine, among other service options. Supertails also has online dog training courses - from basic obedience to advanced tricks.
3. Doggy Dabbas: Founded by Rashee Shah Kuchroo, Doggy Dabbas describes itself as ‘wellness home for your pooches and kitties’. They have created a variety of freeze dried/fresh meals and treats to choose from, with each of them rich in protein, nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants and everything that their furry little bodies need. They even customize the food as per the requirement of the pets.
4. Captain Zack: Mohit Lalvani named his petcare company Captain Zack after his dog Zack. The brand claims its products are made with naturally active ingredients that are anti-irritant, antibacterial, antiseptic and anti-fungal. Add to it the humour in their product names: Paw’sitively Smooth Paw Butter, My Coat Can Gloat, Leave-in Conditioner for Dogs, Excuse Me, Fleas; Bling on the Shine; and Tick’et to Fleadom Dog Shampoo. Here, you can shop by concerns: Picky Eater, Itching, Sensitive Skin, Low Energy, Anxiety…
5. Sploot: Founded by Garima Kaushal and Arnav Sahni, Sploot aims to build a community for pet parents to connect with other pet parents and experts to get answers to queries in real time. It also provides fresh food delivery, among other services. The Sploot app, which has 100,000+ downloads, is available through Google Play Store and iOS App Store. Garima and her team were a part of Google's mentorship programme Appscale Academy that helped them improve their app in terms of increasing user engagement and provided guidance on scaling their business and monetizing their service.
6. Paw Perfect: With features like pet community, activity reminders, health records, and expert guides, Pet Perfect is a platform for dog keepers and offerS customized solutions for their varied, daily pet needs. The platform has over 10K+ downloads on Google Play and was awarded an honourable mention in the Google Play’s best apps and games of 2022 in India. Headquartered in Delhi, it was founded by Yash Bansal.
7. Wiggles: In 2018, father-daughter duo Rajh V. Iyer and Anushka started Wiggles, a company that promises to ‘listen to every bark, meow, chirp & word that pets & their people say, to understand what they really need’. A personalized subscription service, Wiggles provides medicine, wellness and nutrition products for dogs based on recommendations by vets. Wiggles also offers vets on call and grooming services in Mumbai and Pune, as well as boarding, day care and training for dogs.
8. Just Dogs: Founded in 2011 by Poorvi and Ashish Anthony, the pet care retail chain now has more than 42 stores in 16 cities across India, and a customer base of over two million pet parents. They promise that ‘all furballs and floofies are welcome at their offline stores – even squishy ones’.
9. Scoopy Scrub: Pet-grooming start-up Scoopy Scrub was founded in 2007 by banker-turned-entrepreneur Sanjeev Kumar and his wife Preeti. Headquartered in Delhi, Scoopy Scrub is a professional pet grooming parlour/ salon and pet shop chain in India.
10. BarkLoot: Founded in January 2015 by Usha Raghav, this Bengaluru-based start-up is a monthly box delivery service for dogs – anything from toys, treats, bones, chew sticks, accessories to grooming products.
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