Top industrialist Ratan Tata has invested in pet care portal DogSpot.in, continuing the slew of investments he has made in various startups globally. However, the value of the investment was not disclosed.
“Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in DogSpot.in. Ronnie Screwala also invested in this round along with a few new and existing investors,” DogSpot.in co-founder and CEO Rana Atheya said.
The other investors in this round include Ashok Mittal, Rishi Parti, Dheeraj Jain and Abhijeet Pai.
“The investment by Tata is an endorsement of the long held belief by us and our investors that the Indian pet care sector is going through a phase of huge growth and transformation. DogSpot.in is poised to become an agent of this transformation,” he said.
Tata Sons chairman emeritus has been aggressively investing in startups, ranging from e-commerce firms to cab aggregators. He has invested in firms such as Snapdeal, Kaaryah, Urban Ladder, Bluestone, CarDekho, Sabse Technologies, Xiaomi and Ola.
Tata, who served as the chairman of Tata Sons for over two decades until his retirement in 2012, is also associated with some venture capital funds as adviser, including Kalaari Capital and Jungle Ventures.
{{/usCountry}}Tata, who served as the chairman of Tata Sons for over two decades until his retirement in 2012, is also associated with some venture capital funds as adviser, including Kalaari Capital and Jungle Ventures.
{{/usCountry}}Previously, DogSpot.in has received seed funding in 2012 from Aloke Bajpai (Founder, ixigo.com), Vikas Saxena (CEO, Nimbuzz) few others, followed by another round in 2013 by India Quotient . In 2014, Unilazer (Ronnie Screwvala), India Quotient (Anand Lunia) and Growth Story invested in the company.
DogSpot.in was advised by Dexter Capital Advisors on the current deal.
“The funds raised will be deployed towards offering new range of products under the existing brand. Indian pet care market doesn’t have too many products and brands catering to the fast growth segment,” Atheya said.
The global pet care market has breached the $100 billion mark in 2014 with the US alone contributing to $58.04 billion. With over four million dogs, the Indian pet care market is pegged at over $1.22 billion with an annual growth rate of over 35%.
“The exponential rise of pet ownership in cities such as Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bengaluru, the Indian pet care industry is the fastest growing pet care industry globally. One estimate pegs the growth rate to be 30% year-on-year,” he said.