LONDON — Plant-based pet food startup THE PACK recently closed its seed funding round, receiving £835,000 ($1.01 million USD) in investments. The round was held through Vevolution, a global vegan investment platform, which helped THE PACK secure £270,000 ($328,291 USD) for its seed round.

The funding round received participation from Scelta Mycofriends B.V., Veg Capital, Kale United, Akoleo, Silicon Valley VC Accel, Leap Ventures and the Mars Petcare Companion Fund, as well as angel investors Simon Newstead, Alicia Robb, Simon Day, Victoria Betoeski and Leo Groenewegen. THE PACK was one of two pet nutrition startups selected to participate in Leap Venture Studio’s 2021 accelerator program.

“Mars Petcare is dedicated to working on solutions that improve the health and wellbeing of pets, people and the planet,” said Rachel Sheppard, director of Mars Petcare’s accelerator program. “Alternative protein diets for our pets will play a key role in helping us achieve a healthier planet in the future. Therefore, we are so proud to invest in companies like THE PACK through our Leap Venture Studio program — a seed-stage accelerator program in partnership with Michelson Found Animals and R/GA Ventures.”

Founded in 2022, THE PACK offers plant-based dog food directly to consumers. The company’s dog food is available in three recipes: No-Moo Ragu, No-Fishy Dishy and No-Cluck Casserole. THE PACK’s formulas are developed using expertise from animal nutritionists and pet food technologists.

According to Vevolution, the global alternative protein space within the pet food market is predicted to reach $57.4 billion by 2023. THE PACK hopes to cash in on this growing segment, using an innovative approach that has led the company to launch the world’s first plant-based meat stew wet dog food formula, according to THE PACK.

“We are obsessed with helping dogs be healthy and thrive on plant-diets,” said Judy Nadel, co-founder of THE PACK. “For us this means focusing on great nutrition from a balanced source of plant-based proteins. We started this company to give dog parents better choices than what existed before. We have chosen a solution focused on taste and high-quality nutrition, as we believe this is the approach that will lead to healthy dogs and long term success for the business.”

THE PACK plans to use its seed funding to launch its first nutritionally complete oven-baked dried dog food in 2023.

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