September 16, 2022

PetMeds, Bond Pet & Koala Health

🐶 Industry News

– Recently spoke with Matt Hulett, CEO of PetMeds, the publicly-traded online pet pharmacy. Matt was hired about a year ago, after the company declined to renew the contract of its previous CEO, who had run the business for 20 years. PetMeds posted $273 million in sales and $21 million in profit in its most recent fiscal year.

Matt is a turnaround expert, who most recently led the language learning company Rosetta Stone through a successful sale of its business. Matt’s plan for PetMeds is to pivot from focusing solely on the $10 billion pet medication market and take on the larger pet health industry, which has a total addressable market of more than $30 billion. The first step in this transition is a partnership with veterinary telehealth provider Vetster that gives PetMeds’ two million customers access to 24/7 virtual pet care.

Before talking with Matt, I picked up his book Unlock: 5 Questions to Unleash Your Company’s Hidden Power, figuring I would skim through before our call. Turns out the book is really interesting and not the boring business book I expected. Read the whole thing in a couple of days.

– Trupanion, the second largest US pet insurer, has entered the European market with the acquisition of Smart Paws, a pet insurance provider in Germany and Switzerland. Headquartered in Seattle, Trupanion insures more than 700,000 pets throughout the US, Canada and Australia.

💰 Financing & Deals

• Bond Pet Foods, a Boulder startup that makes lab grown protein for pets, closed a $17.5 million Series A round. The company is shifting its focus from creating treats to making pet food that mimics chicken, beef and fish. The company also announced a partnership to develop meat protein for Hill’s Pet Nutrition.

• Koala Health, an online pet pharmacy startup, landed a $20 million Series A round. The Boston company was founded last year by a VP from PillPack, an online pharmacy for humans that was acquired by Amazon.

🤷 Somewhat Relevant

• Idexx, a provider of software and equipment for vet clinics, is facing a class action lawsuit alleging artificially high prices.

• Dolly Parton has launched a line of clothing for pets, appropriately called “Doggy Parton“

💼️ Pet Industry Jobs

• Director of Strategy & Operations – PetExec (NYC)

• Lifecycle Marketing Manager – BarkBox (NY,OH)