In This Issue
Kaemingk to open UK showroom
Spring Fair to be replaced by "Spring Fair @Home" on the Spring Fair website
Retail Equipment Limited acquire Greenkey Garden & Home
British Garden Centres open their 58th centre at Thatcham
Core gardening keeps sales ahead of last year
Garden centres in England and Scotland can stay open - now is the time to review Covid-19 safety
Industry committed to better collaboration on peat use
33% up – growing preparations for next year
HTA 'Keep Britain Blooming’ campaign wins national award
More plants sold in October already than last year
Hard landscaping sales to rise, according to GCA report
Indoor planting for a harmonious, calming aesthetic
Westland rolls out innovative new hosepipe technology
Darlac introduces new tools for 2021
Frank P Matthews growing ‘Orchards for Schools’
How retailers can capture a new generation of poinsettia customers this festive season
Internet garden market set to achieve 25% growth
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Pots continue to dominate garden product sales
Dobbies raises funds for Stroke Association
Christmas sales continues to grow
Plant Healthy E-learning modules launched
AIPH approves Euroflora 2021 in Genova
Garden Connect renews EFSA website
OHAS Grower Standard Version 4 launches
The best of last week's
Monty Don makes headlines slamming garden centres
HTA calls on Welsh government to review ‘non-essential retail’ ruling on garden centres
October gardening hits record levels
Dobbies launches new format store in Scotland’s capital
Steve Harper joins Southern Trident
Fordingbridge looks to expand polytunnel arm of business
Garden Centre Photo Tours
Haskins Snowhill re-opens after £15m re-vamp
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to the GTN Bestsellers printed weekly newsletter
All the latest news from the world of pet products
Start-up firm Sniffe & Likkit shakes up petcare category
Armitage Pet Care sold to US firm
Pet start-ups set to grow after securing investment
Send us your news and great ideas

Contact us with your news.

Email trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 07973 504214


Pet start-ups set to grow after securing investment

Start-up pet food companies are being targeted by investors expecting to see handsome financial returns from this profitable sector. Just in the past week two relatively new companies have secured big investment to grow their businesses.

 

First, a new cat food business, started by a brother and sister, secured a £4.5m investment to help the company expand across the UK.

 

Brett and Nikki O’Farrell started KatKin in 2019 because they believed pet food options available on the market didn’t provide cats with the nutrition they needed to live a healthy life.

 

They now aim to create the ‘healthiest cat food in the world’, with a 95% fresh, real meat content and zero fillers and preservatives.

 

The £4.5m investment, achieved in a seed funding round led by Octopus Ventures, will support the KatKin’s plans to make healthy fresh cat food more accessible. It will also allow the company to develop its personalised products to ensure that every cat receives their exact nutritional requirements.

 

Brett O’Farrell said: “We’re building a world class team that puts cats first and are on a mission to improve the lives of cats, as well as their owners. We’re grateful for the early support of our angel investors and Octopus, which enables us to continue investing in our product and customer experience and to further extend our reach in the UK.”

 

The second start-up company to win investment was Denzel’s, the healthy dog snack brand. It received a six-figure investment from Richard Branson’s daughter Holly and a handful of strategic investors, putting the company in position to grow 16-fold by 2022.

 

The business, which has a growing range of healthy snacks for dogs, was founded by millennial entrepreneurs, Nathan Perry (30) and James Lacy (29). 

 

Denzel’s launched in 2018 with initial funding from Virgin StartUp. Within 12 months the brand was stocked in over 1,500 locations and had grown by more than 500% by the end of year two, having also secured distribution in Ireland, Germany, Austria, Denmark and Dubai. 

 

Holly Branson, head of the Viurgin Investment Fund said: “Denzel’s is a great brand and has huge potential. They have already proved to be highly successful and I am extremely excited to be part of their future. 

 

“I’m a huge advocate for innovative, socially-conscious, sustainable brands that are run by individuals that place as much importance on their positive impact on society, as they do on profit. Denzel’s fast growth and ambition to shake up an established £3.2 Billion UK pet food market by encouraging them to be more sustainable and accountable for the quality of their ingredients, is what has attracted me to Denzel’s.”

 

James Lacy, co-founder of Denzel’s, commented: “With 26% of UK households being dog owners, coupled with an increasing appetite for healthier and more sustainable living, it makes perfect sense that people will want to give their dogs snacks that are better for them. 

 

“We have a number of products that are easily accessible, and we have seen a phenomenal response and rapid growth as a result. However, to take our brand to the next level, we recognised that we needed investment; not just financially, but with someone that shared our values and would invest in us as young entrepreneurs. 

 

“Holly was a no brainer; not only does she have all the qualities that we were looking for but, as our first business loan was with Virgin StartUp, there were already strong synergies.”

 

Pictured above, From left to right: Nathan Perry, James Lacy and Holly Branson.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Del.icio.us Digg | Comment (0)
Comment
Name:*

Email Address:*

Comment:*