Pets Are Getting More Pampered, And VCs Are Funding This

If pet startups have their way, our furry friends’ futures could soon be longer, healthier, and, yes, even more pampered than they already are.

Is your dog stressed? Try a calming CBD chew. Is kitty or puppy acting up at the vet? How about a telehealth consultation or a home visit? Fussy eater? Order up personalized dog food delivery.

Those are some of the offerings startups funded in the past few quarters are working to scale. A sizable cohort is also raising capital for treatment of serious pet ailments, including regenerative therapies, cancer immunotherapies and drugs for feline neurodegeneration.

Overall, an analysis of Crunchbase data for pet-related startup funding shows that the space remains a lively area. So far in 2025, venture and strategic investors have poured more than $660 million into pet- and veterinary-related startup categories globally, which is roughly flat with last year. Even so, investment remains well below peaks hit a few years ago.

People are spending more on pets

Recent funding activity coincides with the rise of what Felix Capital, an occasional investor in the space, describes as the ”growing humanisation of pets.”

Per Felix (and your author’s observation), pet owners are increasingly treating their pets as kids. Today, there are almost twice as many U.S. households with pets than those with children, the firm reports. And among them, more than half say they would give up buying something for themselves in order to buy something for their pets.

All this adds up to considerable and rising pet-related expenditures. In the U.S. alone, consumers are projected to spend $157 billion on their pets in 2025, per the American Pet Products Association, up from $152 billion last year.

The trade group points to several categories as increasingly in-demand: calming products for dogs and cats, backyard chicken supplies, and offerings that help boost affordability and accessibility of veterinary care.

Where venture capital is clustering

Startup capital, meanwhile, is going to a broad array of pet-related business models, including both consumer products and offerings targeted for veterinary practices and landlords of pet-friendly properties.

This year’s largest reported pet-related round — an $80 million Series B — went to PetScreening, a provider of pet policy management software for property managers. The Mooresville, North Carolina-based company offers tools for landlords to assess pet risks and help set fees.

Membership-based care plans are also popular with VCs. This includes Modern Animal, which offers care plans for pet parents to access in-person vet visits, telehealth consultations and prescriptions. The Los Angeles-based startup closed on $46 million in a September round and announced it has reached $100 million in annual revenue.

In a similar vein, New York-based Small Door Veterinary, which also provides membership plans and services like dental care, checkups and emergency care, closed on $55 million in debt and equity financing in July.

Pet longevity is another recurrent funding theme, with VC favorite Loyal, a developer of lifespan-extending drugs for dogs, securing $22 million in a B-2 round early this year. For a sense of where else capital is clustering, we used Crunchbase data to put together a list of 15 standout pet startups funded this year.

Prediction: This will continue

It’s difficult to come up with a sound argument for why pet spending might go down.

Are pet parents who can afford to spoil their dogs with gourmet meals suddenly going to switch to low-end brands? Not likely. Are people who consider their pets members of the family suddenly going to skimp on cancer care or essential surgery? Again, tough to envision.

On the flip side, it’s easy to see how current spending levels could sustain themselves or rise further as more sophisticated medical treatments, tastier treats and over-the-top spa experiences come to market.

Obese pets are also likely poised, for better or worse, to see more humanization of their weight-loss trajectory. San Francisco startup Okava Pharmaceuticals is working to bring GLP-1 weight loss drugs to both dogs and cats, in the form of small injectable implants.

Of course, it’s unlikely many cats and dogs would be in the predicament of needing such drugs if their humans didn’t indulge their every craving in the first place. But in a world full of pet treat advent calendars and artisanal dog ice cream, it’s not exactly surprising.