Pet Circle is Australia’s largest online specialty pet company. It raised a Series C funding round of $125 million led by Prysm Capital and TDM Growth Partners.
The latest funding round was joined by new investor Baillie Gifford and existing investor AirTree Ventures, it sealed Pet Circle’s status as Australia’s latest unicorn.
“We are on a mission to reinvent the experience of pet ownership, by building an integrated platform that connects our customers to 24/7 vet advice and offers the largest and highest quality range of pet products and services in Australia,” Michael Frizell, Pet Circle co-founder and CEO, said.
Claiming to be the third-largest global player in the pet supply industry, Pet Circle has built an integrated pet care platform that includes subscriptions, VetChat, and Telehealth services, and offers more than 10,000 products on its platform.
This new funding shall be used to accelerate Pet Circle’s growth, further develop its own software platform, and expand its warehouse footprint, vehicle fleet and product range.
Pet Circle has been active in the $15 billion pet supplies industry since 2011. The company claimed to have experienced significant growth over the past 18 months and reported a 50% increase in puppy and kitten food sales across its specialty channel over the past year alone.
It was convenient for pet owners to make regularly repeated purchases that would arrive at their doorsteps during the COVID lockdowns.
Pet Circle also got to benefit from the pet ownership boom during recent years which has seen an estimate of 30.4 millions pet owned across the country, according to a survey by industry body Animal Medicines Australia.
69% of households now own a pet compared to 61% from two years ago, likely due to the amount of time and effort households can give to pets due to a large majority of people staying home due to the pandemic. Boredom has also pushed more people to get pets.
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