Rocketo

The Future of Dog Nutrition

Summary

Vets and pet nutritionists agree that a raw food diet is best for dogs. Currently the only mass market options are frozen, taking up freezer space and risking defrosting in transit. Rocketo have found a way (patent pending) to dehydrate raw dog food.

Highlights

• Revenues in 2021 of £1.16m | Projecting £2.83m and EBITDA £410k this year
• 73% gross margin in first 6 months of 2021 for D2C
• Alumni of the Founders Factory accelerator program
• In discussions with Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and IKEA
• Organic, sustainable ingredients and eco-friendly packaging

Pitch Details

The Business

Rocketo have developed patent-pending technology for dehydrating raw dog food. It can easily be transported, stored (3x less heavy than conventional pet food) and prepared by just adding warm water.

They use only organic, sustainable ingredients and their slow, air-drying technique at under 40⁰C ensures the nutritional profile remains intact (high protein, low carbs). They have also developed a supplementary range of treats and supplements. My dog loves the whole range and always leaves a clean bowl!

The Market

Whilst spending on pet care has consistently grown and proven itself to be recession proof, the premium pet food category is the fastest growing segment of the industry and Rocketo caters specifically to this market.

The pet food trade was valued at over €22billion in the EU in 2021 and over 20% of that market is addressable to Rocketo.

• 90% of pet health issues stem from lifestyle and environment
• 51% of dogs in the EU are either overweight or obese
• 76% of owners say they would spend anything to keep their pets healthy.

Progress/Proof

The founders are seasoned entrepreneurs with experience in scaling up pet brands, hitting £1.16m in revenues in their 2nd full year since launching the entire range. They are close to breaking even, expecting to do so in March of this year with overall revenues of £2.83m projected (EBITDA £410k).

While the main revenue driver is their D2C delivery model, they are also in talks with major supermarkets as well as discussing franchise deals outside of Europe incl. Norway and Australia.

Objectives/Future

The largest investment from the fundraise will be used to scale up branding and develop their marketing activities. Half of the funds raised will go towards expanding their EU market presence and developing new products, with a focus on the feline market, whilst the smallest percentage will go towards optimising their ecommerce platform.

Rocketo are aiming to launch in the US in 2024 and project EBITDA to be over €3m by 2025. With several companies in the pet food sector having recently been acquired for anywhere between £100m-£700m, Rocketo are working hard to provide their investors with an exit somewhere in the next 3 to 5 years.

The Team

Rocketo have assembled a world class science-led team along with an advisory board full of strategic industry professionals.

Arunas Matacius CEO & Founder

As a former organic chocolate factory owner with 20+ international awards for product innovation and design, Arunas has created products distributed in 40+ countries via retail such as Selfridges, Whole Foods and more.

Dr. Andrew Bucher Co-founder

Veterinarian and skilled entrepreneur in e-commerce start-ups, operations and marketing, Andrew has previously co-founded a pet product e-commerce business and scaled it from 0 to £60m in 5 years.