Spot & Tango founder Russell Breuer once put all his effort into handcrafting food for his mini Goldendoodle named Jack. Breuer used ingredients like ground turkey and fresh fruits and veggies to nurture his dog in ways he knew best.
Shortly after, he began selling his nutritious dog food to friends. This led to the creation of Spot & Tango, a direct-to-consumer company that offers fur parents custom, healthy dog food curated by animal nutritionists.
Now, the company is raising fresh funds. On Tuesday, it announced it raised a $38.5 million Series B round led by Valor Equity Partners.
Breuer isn’t the only pet parent worried about what his furry friend is eating. Research reports that 75 percent of millennial and Generation X pet parents have the same inclination and search for keywords such as “grain-free, organic and non-GMO” when shopping for their fur babies.
The rise in concern from pet parents has also led to increased investment from venture capitalists. Funding in pet tech grew 29.5 percent from 2019 to 2020, according to Crunchbase.
Spot & Tango’s fresh funding go toward hiring for roles across its engineering, marketing and operations teams. Breuer told Built In he plans to triple the size of the company’s 72-person team by the end of this year.
Additional funding will be used to scale research and development to create new recipe offerings.
All of the company’s ingredients are sourced from U.S. farmers to promote sustainable delivery practices. Additionally, Spot & Tango’s insulation for fresh products is 100 percent biodegradable and all boxes are made with recyclable materials, according to Breuer.
“Spot & Tango is building a brand that meets growing consumer preferences for pet health and wellness, convenience and personalization,” Jon Shulkin, partner and co-president of Valor Equity Partners, said in a statement. “The company is a pioneer in new product development, creating solutions that solve real problems for pet parents.”
Shulkin believes the company is at a “key inflection point” for investment, which is no surprise considering Spot & Tango’s subscription service grew by over 250 percent last year, according to the company.
“We fundamentally believe that health and wellness for pets is a right, not a luxury,” Breuer said in a statement. “Our partnership with Valor has been pivotal as we have scaled our team, supply chain and operations to support rapid growth.”
