It is estimate that 11.38 million U.S. households have gotten a new pet during the Pandemic and we were one of them. In the Tampa Bay region last summer, people were standing in line at the Humane Society for hours to adopt a pet.
We ended up adopting Cody from Southeast Beagle Rescue and
he is such a part of our family
According to Supermarket News, the Pet Industry sales in 2020 surpassed $100 billion dollars for the first time ever.
So where there is a trend, innovative entrepreneurs find ways to capitalize on those trends. And we saw many new trends take hold during the Pandemic.
McKinsey & Company reported that the entrepreneurial spirit in the U.S. has stayed strong throughout the last six months of this year. The first five months of 2021 saw an average of 472,000 new business applications a month, which is way more than in the last five months of 2020, which saw 410,000. But these numbers are more than double for the same period in 2019.
In a report by Angel List Weekly, Virtual Pet Clinics are now a VC's best friend. Los Angeles has a bustling pet care start up community focused on grooming products, training and veterinary services.
One company, AirVet, received $14 million dollars in investment dollars for an on demand platform for Vets to moonlight on off hours to help people with their pet emergencies.
Another hot area is insurtech companies, helping pet owners pay for health services. Two companies in New York each received over $10 million, Pawp and Wagmo and are now hiring. And a San Francisco Company called Dutch raised $5 million dollars hiring.
The popularity of pet care start ups even led to the creation of Leap Venture Studios, an accelerator that was founded by an animal welfare non-profit, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, Inc., along with an investment firm and pet technology company. They have already funded more than 25 startups since launching in 2018.
Located in the Tampa Bay area, we have a large Pet Food Manufacturer, headquartered out of Oldsmar called Better Choice Company, Inc. that raised over $42 million dollars this year.
Dogs are a man's best friend, but entrepreneurs are betting that they will be their best friend as well.