[Funding alert] Licious invests $1M in pet food startup Pawfectly Made

D2C (direct-to-consumer) meat brand and unicorn Licious has announced that it has invested $1 million in the pet food startup Pawfectly Made. The startup will continue to function as a separate entity with its own production processes and supply chain as Licious comes in as a strategic partner.

Speaking about the investment, Founder and CEO Arpita Ganesh told YourStory, "We saw perfect synergy with Licious when it came to their expertise on supply chain and technology that could help scale Pawfectly Made faster."

"Their commitment to superior quality and freshness, deep understanding of the Indian market and obsession with delivering great value to the customers were key factors that convinced us of the efficacy of this investment and the overall partnership. We are also aligned on Pawfectly Made capturing a much larger market share of pet food in Bengaluru for now and also developing new product ranges, to bring much more healthier products for pets across India," she added.

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Arpita began working on the idea of a pet food startup after the COVID-19 lockdown. As the owner of a nine-year-old and a three-year-old dog, both with different dietary requirements, she had to experiment with different ingredients to keep them healthy.

So, she decided to cook. “I started doing a lot of trials. I started seeing and reading up on the different things that I could do with the foods. When I saw a shift in their activity and energy levels. I realised I was onto something,” says Arpita. It led her to start Pawfectly Made, a home-cooked meal service startup for pets in Bengaluru in 2020.

The fresh pet food segment in India is at an inflection point, driving both Indian and international players to introduce product offerings to a fast-expanding user base. According to TechSci Research, the Indian pet food market is growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 18 percent and is expected to reach $642 million by 2022 end.

In spite of the growth opportunity that the industry provides, the pet food sector in India has restricted choices and customers have to be largely dependent on pre-packaged processed food.

Since its inception in 2015, Licious says, it has adopted 100 percent traceable and sustainable sourcing practices, creating quality benchmarks for the industry. The Bengaluru-based brand is also the largest D2C brand from India to be certified with FSSC22000, one of the highest food safety certifications in the world.