PROSPECTS & CHALLENGES OF PET-RELATED STARTUPS IN INDIA
India pet care market continues to record double-digit value growth on the back of pet humanization coupled with growing disposable income. Country’s pet care industry, driven by strong Dog food sales advanced with a value CAGR of over 21% during 2013-18. Dog food category accounts for the highest value share while other pet products like pet toys, pet accessories, etc. also saw strong value CAGR growth of over 19% during the review period of 2013-18.
Worldwide Pet Care Market size surpassed USD 232 billion in 2020 and is poised to expand at over 6.1% CAGR between 2021 and 2027. Technological advancements that are making grooming, training facilities, and boarding accessible to the owners and assist in keeping track of the pets are expected to boost the market growth.
Mobile pet grooming, a companion animal service sector is growing rapidly. The hectic schedule of pet owners has propelled the demand for mobile pet grooming. For geriatric population with limited mobility, mobile grooming services have been invaluable. Growing awareness regarding the benefits of the mobile pet care services including expert care, personalized individual attention, and no exposure to other pets are some of the attributes of this service that is fueling the pet care market demand. In addition, the surge in demand for professional grooming services have increased the number of mobile pet care service providers that offers clipping, professional shampooing, brushing, and other grooming services for dogs. Many of the mobile pet care service providers are offering franchisee opportunities, for instance the Mobile Dog Wash and Pooch Mobile in UK.
The global pet care market has been challenged by the coronavirus pandemic. As the COVID-19 crisis unravels, the short-term effects of the pandemic have been mixed and therefore, investors are sceptical whether the upsurge in pet care spending will alter or remain the same. Regardless of some disturbances caused by COVID-19 lockdown measures across the globe, the long-term growth potential of the sector remains undamaged. Moreover, the current surge in pet ownership in a few countries is driven by increase in adoption and nurturing by people restricted to their homes.
Pet ownership of dogs and other pets in India has increased substantially over the past decade owing to change in the urban lifestyle and rising number of nuclear families. This has helped pet care market considerably. High growth potential has attracted more investments and many pet startups like Dogspot, Heads Up for Tails, Nimble Wireless have come up over the years. Pet food manufacturers are offering more natural products that are gluten-free and GMO free with increased health benefits like dog food with Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids for healthy skin, probiotics in dry formula to help maintain digestive health, glucosamine for healthy joints and strong bones, and vitamins and minerals for complete and balanced nutrition of dogs.
As far as the competitive landscape is concerned, Mars International continues to remain market leader followed by Royal Canin as both are well established as pet care companies, having a strong brand recognition and credibility among Indian pet parents. Mars, Royal Canin, and Indian Broiler Group, the top three players account for over 65% value market share.
With over four million dogs, the Indian pet care market is pegged at over USD 1.22 billion with an annual growth rate of over 35 per cent. The exponential rise of pet ownership in cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bengaluru, has ensured that the Indian pet care industry is the fastest growing pet care industry globally.
As India’s pet care market is expected to grow at a value of INR 7500 Crores by the end of the forecasted period, on account of rising nuclear families, double-income households, change in lifestyle, urbanization, and increasing pet ownership. Delayed parenthood witnessed in most urban and newly married couples has eventually increased the pet adoption ratio in the country, thus making it an emotional stimulant. The market is led by the dog segment which accounted for more than half of the market share, while the rabbit segment is expected to grow to more than 26% anticipated CAGR.
The entry and expansion of many players into the pet care industry forecast a positive view for the market in India. Due to certain social and cultural constrictions, dog populations vastly outnumber that of cats in India. The hectic and tiresome lifestyles developed due to modernization have made most urban dwellers time-handicapped, leading to an increased preference for commercially packaged pet foods. The products such as Multivitamin, supplements, Eye and ear care products, Dental care/oral care products, diapers, etc. are some of the trending pet healthcare products in the market.
The easy availability of these pet care products is a major attraction factor for pet parents. With the organized sales channel and rising demand, the India Pet Care Market is expected to see robust growth in the future. Even though the online store segment holds the least market share, it is expected to be growing with the highest anticipated CAGR of 32.11% in the forecasted period. This pet boom has led to the proliferation of pet startups across the country. BarkNBond, an app currently available only in Mumbai, helps find all pet-related essentials, everything from veterinary clinics to pet-friendly cafes.
A large number of cities in the developed world have well-enunciated pet policies mandating a set of DO’s and DON’Ts that are applicable to the ownership of pets. The absence of such rules and regulations in India has raised a slew of disputes that do not get adequately addressed, especially in cities where most pets have to be mostly kept within the confines of small apartments.
India is a country with 28-29 million pets and accounts for a market of INR 3500 cr in this sector. Petcare is the fastest-growing category in the FMCG sector with 30-35% growth in the last two years. As the number of pet parents increased, the petcare startups, too, amped up their offerings and marketing strategies. According to Petex, India’s pet care market is expected to grow at 14 percent to become a $490 million industry by 2022. It is estimated to be the fastest-growing pet care market in the world, with the pet food market alone forecasted to hit $310 million by 2022.
As a result, a new breed of Indian entrepreneurs have emerged on the startup scene, striving to solve problems for what they are deeply passionate about – pets!
India’s pet care market is a sleeping giant, and there’s more reason to be excited, especially now that funding has started to trickle in.
The India Opportunity: For one, India is the fastest growing pet care market in the world, with the pet care market in India expected to grow 14% to become a $490 Mn opportunity by 2022. The pet food market alone will contribute more than 63% or $310 Mn to this, led by dog food.
From professional healthcare for your pets to finding safe homes for them when you travel, these startups are creating a whole new industry through services that were hitherto confined to the neighbourhood pet shop or are completely new.
Here are 10 Indian startups that cater to both, furry friends and the humans who love them. After all, pets are family!
- Vivaldis Health and Foods
Vivaldis Health and Foods Pvt. Ltd. is a healthcare products company born out of the vision of professionals passionate about animal and human healthcare. The startup manufactures and markets novel medicines for chronic pet diseases such as obesity, cancer and arthritis. Since in India, almost 40% of pets suffer from lifestyle diseases, Vivaldis has also designed lifestyle management products for pets, duly supported by formulations for infection and infestation control. Founded in early 2015 by OP Singh, an animal health industry veteran, and Kunal Khanna, a London Business School graduate, Vivaldis operates in 25 cities across India.
- TimeForPet
Timeforpet.com was founded by a team of pet lovers with a serious passion for helping pets and pet owners. This startup is a one-stop destination for everything a pet needs, be it food, accessories or medical care. It allows you to post free advertisements through which you can put up your pets for adoption or adopt a pet. The site also provides doctor’s advice, which basically means you can get assistance from a vet in case your pet has a medical emergency. The website also houses a list of reputed veterinary clinics in Bengaluru.
- PetDom
Petdom is a pet adoption platform on a mission to find the right, deserving home for all pets in India. With the help of technology, Petdom aims to aggregate and facilitate the adoption of thousands of dogs from animal shelters and NGOs. Even current pet parents who are looking to re-home their loved pet can use Petdom to find suitable families and individuals. They have a verification process and a binding agreement which the pet adopters have to sign. Petdom also helps both the pet and its new family adapt to each other.
- BarkNBond
A unique canine consultation service, BarkNBond was started by Pranita Balar, who quit her well-paying job to follow her love for animals and turn it into a profession. Balar, a canine consultant and ‘dognition’ evaluator, believes that positive training methods are the key to a fulfilling relationship between you and your pet. BarkNBond helps you find all pet-related places – from veterinary clinics to pet friendly cafes – with just a few taps on your phone. The startup also provides ‘dogs on demand’ to bring some canine cheer to offices. Currently, the app covers the city of Mumbai.
- Collarfolk
CollarFolk is for those people who hate to leave their pets behind when going on a vacation and would love for them to come along! This startup was born out of the founder Rukmini Vaish’s need to step out of town for a fun break without leaving behind Kiki, her 5-month-old golden retriever. She decided that she wanted to do both, and then went on to set up her startup to help like-minded people. Collarfolk helps people plan pet-friendly vacations with their ever-growing list of pet-friendly hotels, resorts and home stays across India. Other than that, they also help you find the right grooming and boarding services for your dogs. They even help you get a pet friendly taxi for the trip.
- BarkLoot
BarkLoot is the brainchild of Usha Raghav, who started the online portal as a gesture of love for her dog, Atom. The portal brings you, or rather your pet, a box-full of cool things that are both safe and beneficial for the pet’s health. With BarkLoot’s monthly subscriptions, pets get to enjoy different products – from toys and treats to grooming products – every month. Pet parents also save big on time and money by letting the start-up curate and deliver the products right at their doorsteps.
- Waggle
The doggie version of AirBnB, Waggle is an online community of dog lovers that help traveling pet parents find safe and pet-friendly homes in the places they are visiting. Waggle handpicks each of it’s hosts through a vetting process to ensure that they are genuine dog lovers with sufficient knowledge in pet care. The founder duo of Sameera Abraham and Arjun Mathai also host dogs at their own homes frequently.
- Doggie Dabbas
Doggie Dabbas aims to change the fact that while humans have plenty of choice to order food, pets have to be content with packaged food at best. It is a one-stop shop which provides the benefits of home-cooked food combined with the convenience of traditional packaged dog food. Healthy, home-cooked and customized meals are vacuum-packed with the latest technology and hand-delivered to the doorstep. Founder and pet chef Rashee Kachroo got a brainwave about getting into the cuisine-for-canines business when she realised that her own three dogs preferred her cooking over branded dog food products.
9.PetPhotographer
Missed out on taking pictures of your pet chasing his tail, sleeping on the window sill or asking for more food with that irresistible wide-eyed look? PetPhotographer captures those fun moments with your pets, be it indoors or outdoors. Founder and pet photographer, Aakanksha Tavag takes pictures that highlights your pets’ personalities in the best ways possible. As the former Google employee likes to say, she loves capturing precious moments with pets through her camera.
- Dogsee Chew
Dogsee Chew was founded purely for the love of dogs. Founder Bhupendra Khanal, who headed an analytics firm for 7 years, quit his job to start DogSee Chew. The start up makes organic dog treats from natural ingredients that are directly sourced from the Himalayas. They are then made using an ancient recipe of hardened yak and cow milk. They have also collaborated with Therpup, a dog cafe in Bengaluru where pet lovers can come, relax and play with dogs.
- The Paws Pack
The brainchild of Tanya Kanetkar Kane and Neha Panchamiya Jangle, The Paws Pack offers holistic solutions for pet-lovers, from hydrotherapy and hostels to pet transportation and training clubs. They also have a state-of-the-art pet resort where a pet can get its own room to relax in when their pet parent is not in town. The pet-loving duo are also proud to have a RESQ veterinary clinic on their Pune premises that offers permanent discounts to pet owners who have adopted Indian breeds.
Here’s a sample of Pet Care companies in India-
dogkart
Dogkart was born to fill in Indian pet parents need of procuring high quality supplies for their fur kids. We intend to bring best brands across globe in India. Towards that end we partner with the manufacturer of these products and enter into exclusive agreements to represent their brands in India. We plan to ensure affordability&availability of products by keeping supply chain lean & efficient.
Woofyz Pet services
We aim to create an engaged community of Pet Owners and link them to businesses and services that would help fulfill their current and evolving Social, Medical,Utilitarian and Aspirational needs. As part of our Go to market strategy we have developed and deployed Enterprise SaaS for the Veterinary segment. This SaaS will be the cornerstone of our strategy to acquire Business partners and Pet owners registered with them. In addition we manage a thriving Social platform for Pet owners to engage and participate in discussions,events etc. After having acquired Pet owners (demand) and Business partners (Supply) we shall bring the two together in a marketplace enabling discovery and fulfillment of needs related to every aspect of Pet life cycle
Paws2fins
We manufacture and provide homemade food and treats for pets which is human grade in quality, also we have various pet pervices like grooming, sitting, dog walks, and pet boarding. The last service we are trying to work on is connecting pet owners to various vets across the city. A one stop places for pet owners/ lovers to make life easy for them to have a pet.
Woofsnwags
Our Story… and how did this dream come true! Pets :), woof! woof! meow.. our companions, best #buddy whatever we name them. They come into our lives to give us unconditional love; comfort, warmth, happiness, laughter and the best gift ever, ‘friendship’. Outsiders call them animals, Pet/Dog lovers call them #buds, pampered children who never grow up. Woofsnwags, is a byproduct of the feeling and the love felt for our dogs. Our friends and family who don’t own a pet just can’t feel the need of one and who has ever had a pet knows how it feels to have someone with 4 feet around you, following you like a shadow for just a puchiii or a pat. They just don’t care if you are angry or sad, what they want are your love and attention. Our team only has one thing in common, ‘Love for four feet marvels who #Wags his tail when you are around’. We relay to the love for your pet and cherry-pick a range of products that express your love and care for your pet. Dog stories are the best pastime for any dog lover, how he eats, poop’s or how upset you get when he isn’t barking on your funny and sad faces. Our choice of products is based on the stories we get to hear from #doglovers, dog parents sharing experiences, tips to dog grooming, dog training, dog food and the kind of mate I am looking for in my dog. WnW is an élite brand for ‘Wag-gish’ experiences for both pets and pet lovers. Our product spans from #pawsome-to-awesome range of accessories, food, and LOVE for pets and #petlovers! Why Woofsnwags! #Goofy came into our house after 3 years of persuasion to my folks. Whenever I tried to get a dog at home, they just gave me one-liner- either you stay or the dog, so decide for yourself. Today I have 3 dogs (wanted a cat too: P), for whom I come back on time, I know more than my folks getting angry at me for being late, they will be showing tantrums because I’m late from work. ‘Pets are kids who will never grow up’, we pamper them with love, passion and admiration for their unconditionally attention and love they give us. I work for that ‘love’. Inspired by my love for these wonderful four-legged marvels in our lives, this is not an idea to work but to fulfill my passion to be a part of the journey of every #petlover lives, since the time they get a thought of including a #pet in the family as a member. We want to keep pets healthy, happy, and pampered with a wide selection of products from reputed global brands apart from offering our own specially customized.
Happy Pettings
When you want the best possible care and attention for your pet, there is nothing like a home environment. Happy Pettings is a home based pet boarding service. We have 3 Adorable Labrador Retrievers Named as Happy, Guggu & Brezeer to ensure that your pet does not feel alone in your absence. Happy Petting offers unparalleled care and unexpected value in home based dog boarding. Our in house facility exceeds all standards to ensure the perfect environment for your pets. By combining premium & personalized services to assured incomparable peace of mind. Our pledge to you is to provide your pets with the highest quality pet care available today. We promise a safe, comfortable and fun-filled experience for each one of our furry friends with while their parents are away.
Floap (For Love of All Pets)
There’s Fin-tech, Health-tech, it’s time for Pet-Tech: Floap: The “Pet-Tech” Promise: 1. Use robust technology in the pet industry to streamline it all. 2. One stop solution and quality players in One Platform 3. Use AI and data Analytics for informed Business Decisions 4. Use AR & VR to make pet-parenting a hassle free experience and encourage all pet lovers to consider having one without having to worry about responsibility .
OotaPETS Proactive pet health monitoring
Monitor the complete diet information including what food, what time, how much nutrition, meal schedules, health history, automatic vet connection, food store connection, automatic food ordering.
Petamiko Services Pvt Ltd
At Petamiko, we strive hard and work conscientiously to make certain that the pets and their owners have everything they need, on a single platform. Petamiko is a one-stop solution for pet parents.
https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/pet-care-market
