Why we invested in PetsTable?
PetsTable, Inc. is a tech-enabled pet wellness platform focused on improving Pets’, and Pet owners’ lives, starting with food via its flagship subscription product. Future products include insurance, toys, cat products, pet adoption, etc.
Epakon first invested in PetsTable in September 2020 as the company set out to solve a key challenge in the Pet industry: What our pets eat in Latin America.
The problem statement: The little, round, and dry food that large pet stores/brands sell is called Kibble. This food is known to cause chronic issues in dogs as new research methods become available and statistics are analyzed. For dogs, this means a shorter lifespan and more suffering. For owners, this means less time with their dogs and high costs of care.
The main reasons why Kibble isn’t acceptable for our pets are:
- Feed grade ingredients
- Highly processed ingredients
- High Starch Carbohydrates
- Low moisture
- Increase bacteria risk
- Expired/Gets Rancid Fast
- Added colors and chemicals
The solution: PetsTable produces organic, natural, and pet nutritionist-approved ingredients and impeccable processes to produce, package, transport, and distribute food. In addition, PetsTable personalizes the quantity and recipe according to the precise characteristics of each specific dog like age, type, activity levels, weight, etc. This is only the first product in the lineup for the company.
Our investment thesis:
- The pet wellness industry has a HUGE TAM. For PetsTable’s beachhead TAM, it is an untapped $12.4B opportunity across Latin America (Data source: Company, Statista, Euromonitor).
2. The unit economics, notably the LTV/CAC ratio had been extremely attractive at 7x+. We believe PetsTable can scale by investing in marketing smartly and still achieve a very attractive LTV/CAC ratio at scale.
3. In conjunction with positive unit economics, we can see an extremely attractive revenue retention curve across all cohorts.
4. The company also has a 4.9-star rating review on TrustPilot and a 98 Net Promoter Score, which speaks to the product's highly curated customer service experience and quality.
5. The execution and data-driven team, led by the former country manager for Frubana in Mexico, Jorge Salas.
6. This is a proven business model in the United States that we expect will be translatable into Latin America: The Farmers Dog, Nom Nom Now, Smalls, etc.
7. We believe when owners trust PetsTable for their pet’s food, they are more likely to trust it for toys and insurance as well so it is a catalyst for upselling in the future as well.
Since 2020, we have seen the PetsTable team continue to execute successfully. This has translated into the company scaling by adding thousands of subscribers and retaining them at a sterling pace, proving the product market fit. What PetsTable has achieved so far is impressive and we’re thrilled to continue backing the team on its entrepreneurial journey.
