Pet food quality is deteriorating

Trust between consumers and leading Pet Food Brands has been breaking due to safety recalls and contaminated meat. So far in 2021, there have been 3 recalls of pet food due to Salmonella which can be life threatening for pets. Conventional pet food is also unhealthy as many brands add fillers and fats which can lead to health complications. 

Furthermore, meat-based pet food is bad for the environment. On average, pets consume 30% of U.S. meat production and the livestock used for this consumption contributes 3.3% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions

Sources: 

Okin, G. S. (2017). Environmental impacts of food consumption by dogs and cats. PLOS ONE, 12(8), e0181301.

The Meat Question, by the Numbers - The New York Times

Dog food you can trust

Wild Earth’s patented, plant based protein formula is loaded with all 10 essential amino acids dogs need while using 90% fewer resources than meat-based pet food. 

Patented plant based formula

Wild Earth uses cultured protein made from human-grade koji (Aspergillus Oryzae), an ancient protein and a member of the fungi kingdom containing all ten amino acids essential for dogs. Through a fermentation process, fungal yeasts are transformed into concentrated yeasts before incorporated into Wild Earth’s dog food as a source of protein, B vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants.

Per the company, it only takes three days to turn yeast proteins into a finished dog food product with fewer resources required compared to the traditional meat-based pet food production - making Wild Earth’s pet food highly scalable and environmentally sustainable. 

In addition, Wild Earth claims that its veterinarian-developed pet food offers 31% complete proteins in every scoop of kibble.  

8 SKUs currently on the market. 

~387x growth in net revenue since launch

- 2018 net revenue: $15K

- 2019 net revenue: $811K

- 2020 net revenue: $5.8M

- 2021 forecast: $20M (currently $9.5M run rate)

Michael Dubin, Founder & fmr. CEO of Dollar Shave Club, is an adviser to Wild Earth. Michael has been instrumental in planning the company's direct to consumer strategy. 

Successfully closed a seed investment from Mark Cuban after appearing on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2019.  

Direct to consumer subscription model  

More than ~80% of Wild Earth’s revenue comes from its kibble subscriptions sold directly on its Shopify store and partner channels (i.e., Amazon, Chewy, Heads Up For Tails). The company acquires customers through various digital marketing channels such as SEO, affiliate marketing, paid media, and content marketing. 

Customers have a 90-95% month-on-month retention after three months of subscription due to the sticky subscription nature of dog food products. 

Wild Earth’s headline product - the 18lbs kibble - has a ~31% contribution margin (57% gross margin) which is expected to improve to ~50% (75% gross margin) as the company achieves economies of scale in production and distribution.

No DTC, plant-based competitors

Incumbent pet food players who have so far missed the plant based trend and have failed to execute on the direct to consumer (DTC) business model 

Over $20M raised from notable investors 

• 2017 - 2019: $5.8M in seed investments (various dates and valuations) 
• April 2019: Series A / $10M on $20M pre-money
• May 2020: Series A2 / $5M on $30M pre-money

Investors include: 

• Mark Cuban (closed on Shark Tank)
• Peter Thiel
• Felicis Ventures (Ring, Shopify, Twitch) 
• Mars (strategic investor and one of the biggest pet food brand owners)

CEO & Co-Founder Ryan Bethencourt has years of experience in leading, building, and advising high-growth food and biotechnology companies. He is a co-founder, former Program Director, and Venture Partner at IndieBio and has invested in over 70 early-stage biotech startups. Ryan also served as the head of life sciences at the XPRIZE Foundation. He holds a BSc from Warwick University, a Masters in Bioscience Enterprise (MBE) from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh.

CPO & Co-Founder Abril Estrada is a scientist at heart and has focused her academic research and industrial work on creating innovative technologies to improve everyday life. Prior to Wild Earth, Abril spent seven years as a scientist at the Clorox Company. Abril holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Doctorate in Biomaterials Chemistry from the University of California Santa Barbara.

COO Antony Evans has been working at the intersection of biotechnology and consumer products for a decade – having founded the first biotech company to be funded by Y Combinator. Antony previously spent seven years as a strategy consultant with Oliver Wyman and Bain & Company. He holds an MA in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and an MBA with distinction from INSEAD.

Acquisition or IPO

The team is targeting an IPO. However, it's likely at around $100MM run rate (by 2023 based on company projections) Wild Earth will become irresistibly attractive to incumbent pet food players who have so far missed the plant based trend and have failed to execute on the DTC business model.

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