Last Thursday, December 15th, Leap Venture Studio held its virtual “demo day” to present the pet care startup accelerator’s sixth cohort of startups, after a 12-week program where they receive US$200,000, custom mentorship, and support in preparing for future fundraising. Ranging from a SaaS-enabled marketplace for pets to a subscription service for sustainable meals for dogs, there is no doubt that the pet market is full of opportunities. This latest cohort of the first Europe-focused pet accelerator gives a vision of what the future of pet tech looks like. . “This is our first regional program, these startups are taking care of specialized needs for pets and pet parents,” said Rachel Sheppard, Director of Ventures at Mars Petcare, during demo day

A recent Pitchbook report showed that funding to pet-related startups has dropped this year. Obviously raising funding is a challenge for startups, but what are the other main challenges they are facing at this time?. Besides supply chain issues, rising costs, and inflation, we are also seeing rising costs in terms of hiring in the pet sector, according to Rachel Sheppard, Director of Ventures at Mars Petcare. “But also, how investors see the pet care market potential and what types of sectors they have not looked at before that might be an attractive investment for them.”