Active Partners is delighted to welcome KatKin into its portfolio of world-class brands as it announces its investment in the UK’s leading fresh food brand for cats, joining existing investors Perwyn, V3 Ventures (Verlinvest) and Octopus Ventures as its backers.
KatKin was founded by brother and sister duo Brett and Nikki O’Farrell, and Ed Westcott, to set a new industry standard for cat care. Its vet-formulated fresh food uses 100% real meat that’s gently cooked to lock in nutrients and flavour and then frozen fresh. This provides cats, which are obligate carnivores, with the meat required for their nutrition and best health. Through KatKin’s pioneering products, cat parents can keep their cats healthy and prevent problems like obesity, kidney disease and poor dental health.
As the cat population around the world grows rapidly, with 11.1 million cats in the UK alone, pet owners are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of high-quality, nutritious and balanced meals for their cats and the benefits of fresh food. But despite predictions that the global cat food market will be worth over $40bn by 2030, and over 40% of cat owners interested in buying fresh, incumbents in the pet food category have been slow to innovate, packing heat-sterilised products light in meat with low-quality grains, dry meat meals, fillers and cereals.
KatKin is challenging the norms of the industry with its totally fresh approach to cat care. Cat parents build personalised meal boxes which are tailored to their cat’s unique traits and delivered directly to their home via a monthly subscription. Founded in 2020, KatKin has now delivered over 35 million fresh meals to 200,000 cats. The brand also recently announced its first retail partnership with online grocery store Ocado to reach a more mass market. The new funds will be used to fuel growth through DTC channels and retail partnerships, drive category awareness for fresh cat food, expand its team and invest in further product innovation.
Janice Cargo, Partner at Active Partners said: “KatKin is building an uncompromising brand centred around a hardcore commitment to cats’ wellbeing and health. There is a huge opportunity to shake up the unloved cat food market, and KatKin is doing exactly that with its fresh, 100% real meat products and truly differentiated experience for cat parents. We’re excited to work with Brett, Nikki, Ed and the team to support their next phase of growth.”
Brett O’Farrell, Co-Founder of KatKin commented: We’re building a global, cat-first brand for cat health and wellbeing. Because every cat parent deserves a brand they can trust to be as uncompromising as them. And we want to change the lives of as many cats as possible — by helping cat parents feed fresh with the 100% real meat that their cats were born to eat. We’re excited for Janice and the Active team to join us on this mission, bringing their deep knowledge and expertise in building world-class brands and scaling businesses.
