The first to market DTC fresh cat-only food brand Smalls just raised $19 million. Companion Fund led this most recent round, which included Left Lane Capital, Valor Capital, 301 INC, General Mills' venture capital arm, and Ohio State University's endowment fund as investors. The brand has generated 8-figures in sales since it launched in 2017 and has fed more than 100,000 cats since then. Founder Collective is an additional investor from a previous round.
Several of the biggest names in legacy pet food have invested in the premium pet food space, indicating that the high-quality treatment of our pets is showing no signs of slowing.
Smalls' mission is to change how people feed their cats with human-grade fresh food that is high in protein. For over a century, cats' needs have been secondary to their canine counterparts, with pet brands tailoring products to capture the dog-minded consumer, resulting in products that aren't nutritionally sound for cats.
"Cats have been chronically underserved and underinvested in, despite there being cats in 25% of US households," said Matt Michaelson, Co-Founder and CEO of Smalls. "Smalls is committed to investing exclusively in cats so we can continue to bring innovation to a customer in dire need of healthier products."
As pet parents increasingly invest in products to care for their pets in a way that mirrors how they would care for themselves or a child, the pet industry is expected to surpass $277 billion by 2030. By offering humane and nutritional fresh food solutions to over 45.3 million cat parents in the U.S., Smalls is making sure to become the leading voice for cats.
With the influx of capital, Smalls is taking further steps towards its mission to provide wholesome, humane, and sustainable cat food. Making use of the funds, Smalls will now be available in retail stores and has a variety of new products in store. Its team stands out as one of the most diverse in the pet industry, with Smalls having a feline-focused brand and an emphasis on their people. Thanks to the recent fundraise, they can now hire up to nearly 25% more personnel. In contrast, others undertake devastating layoffs, providing employees a fully remote 4-day work week.