Petlove & Co, a São Paulo-based digital platform of products and services for the pet market, announced today that it has raised around $ 150 million (R $ 750 million) today in a financing round led by Riverwood Capital.
The round is almost double what Petlove has raised in its history. The company began life as PetSuperMarket when it was founded in 1999 in the early days of the internet. Today, the company continues to operate an online store that offers a wide range of pet products and services.
Tarpon, SoftBank, L Catterton, Porto Seguro and Monashees also participated in the funding round, bringing the company’s total raised to $ 225.8 million over its lifetime, according to Crunchbase. Since January 2020 alone, Petlove has raised more than $ 192 million. The company has declined to reveal what valuation it was raised to in this latest round.
Talita Lacerda, CEO of Petlove, said the company will use the new capital in part to further expand its logistics network in order to accelerate its delivery capabilities. In particular, it plans to expand its express delivery service, Petlove Já, which allows products to be delivered within 4 hours of placing your order, to other geographies. It is currently only available in some cities in Brazil, such as São Paulo and Belo Horizonte.
The funds will also go towards growing Petlove’s underwriting program, which Lacerda says is the first of its kind in the country and one of the company’s flagship services.
“The Brazilian pet market is one of the largest in the world and Brazilian consumers increasingly demand digitally native products and services with a high level of customer focus,” said Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, co-founding partner and managing partner of Riverwood Capital. , in a written statement.
The company has evolved and grown following a recent integration with DogHero, the acquisitions of Vetus and VetSmart, and the launch of Porto.Pet.
“We have built an increasingly comprehensive and inclusive platform to meet the needs of all stakeholders in this rapidly expanding market,” Lacerda said.
Brazil is the fourth largest pet market in total spending, the company says. According to the Pet Brasil Institute, total sales of the Brazilian pet market exceeded US $ 7 billion (R $ 40 billion) in 2020, growing by 13.5% compared to the previous year, while Petlove grew by 65% . Overall, pet ownership in the country is high, with 60% of Brazilians owning pets compared to 50% in the US.
Petlove has more than 400 employees, according to Pitchbook.
Alex Szapiro, Brazil Director and Operating Partner of SoftBank Latin America Fund described the work Petlove has done to help “shape the largest ecosystem in Latin America” as “one of the most extraordinary in the segment and in the entire retail sector. .. “
