Direct-to-consumer (D2C) pet care brand Wiggles.in has raised $5.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Anthill Ventures, with participation from Panthera Peak Ventures and a few other new and existing investors.
The company also saw investment from Varun Alagh, founder of Mamaearth, Nikhil Bhandarkar, Ubiquity Capital, Nachiket Deshpande, chief operating officer, L&T Infotech, Siddharth Sikchi, promoter of Clean Science and Technology and other HNIs in individual capacities.
Pune-based Anushka Iyer, co-founder, set up the company in 2018 to sell not just pet products but also have on-call veterinarian, grooming services and behavioural sessions for pets. The company also organizes blood donation camps from time-to-time. Iyer said she is focused on every stage in the life-cycle of a pet.
The company categorizes its business into two—online sales for its e-commerce platform and offline sales of services. It has about 30,000 clients for both categories and about 42 products including foods, treats, supplements, medicines available online. Its pet care services such as dog boarding, online vet consultations, behavioural and diet consultations are currently available only in Mumbai and Pune.
The infusion of funds, Iyer said, will enable the brand to increase its investment in research to develop and launch new products and also go beyond its two markets where it currently offers services.
The company, Iyer claimed, had filled grey spaces to create new categories such as pet sanitizer, pain relief sprays, cannabis pain oils, wet food, broth, hemp seed oil, and probiotic strips. For these, it uses contract manufacturers. “Pet parents, especially Gen Z and millennials, like our products,” she said.
Kabir Kochhar, partner, Anthill Ventures, said, “The founders have built the brand focused on trust and treats ailments and the nutritional needs of pets. Their research in medicine ensures a steady rollout of essential products for pets.”
Wiggles was founded by Iyer, Rajh V. Iyer, and Venky Mahadevan, and had raised about $1 million prior to this in a seed round and has 20 full-time veterinarians and 6,000 affiliate doctors that recommend its products.
India’s pet care segment was about ₹3,701 crore in FY20-21, according to research firm Euromonitor international. Last year, it said that the figure stood at ₹3,134.8 crore. The sector was growing at 15% CAGR between 2016-2021 and is expected to double to 30% CAGR in 2021-2026.
Source: Mint