Home delivery fresh cat food company KatKin has secured $22m (£18m) worth of venture capital funding in its initial offering.
Founded by siblings Brett O’Farrell and Nikki O’Farrell, KatKin claims to be Europe’s first fresh-cooked cat food company. Each of the company’s eight recipes is formulated by a veterinary nutritionist using 100% human-grade meat, steam cooked and frozen fresh and sent direct to consumers via e-commerce or subscription. To date, the company has delivered around nine million meals to over 80,000 cats across the UK.
The funding round was led by Verlinvest and Perwyn, with participation from Octopus Ventures, and will support the KatKin’s commercial expansion and additional research and development activity. The firm aims to add sustainable tofu-based and health-indicated litters, worming tablets and flea treatments to its range this year, with smart technology, toys and insurance products also in the pipeline.
KatKin co-founder Brett O’Farrell said: “Right now, mainstream cat food is stale – packed with cheap ingredients, hard-to-understand labels and fluffed-up claims, it’s difficult to find what’s best and customers are frustrated. In contrast, the demand is huge for KatKin – every six months we’re doubling in size and customer base. We’re grateful to Lopo and Cecile at Verlinvest and Andrew at Perwyn, as well as for the continued support from Octopus and our angel investors. This support doesn’t just invest in our business but also the health and happiness of cats and cat parents.”
Andrew Wynn, founder and Managing Partner, Perwyn, said: “Following our previous investment in the healthy pet food sector, and the invaluable experience that we built up in this market, it has been a delight to get to know Nikki and Brett and to learn about KatKin and the enormous success they have had with their brand. We are very excited to partner with them and to build the next chapter in KatKin’s story. The business is well-positioned to drive growth in the rapidly expanding natural and fresh food market for pets, and we look forward to supporting KatKin on the execution of its expansion plans.”
Lopo Champalimaud, Board Director, Verlinvest, added: “This is a sector that Verlinvest has been looking at for some time and KatKin is exactly the kind of innovative and disruptive brand that we love to support on its way to global leadership.”
