Early-stage fund will back innovative startups in Europe, Asia and the US that are focused on pets’ longevity, health and therapeutics.
Ani.VC, an independent early-stage venture fund based in Los Angeles, announced its launch today. The new fund aims to capitalize on the accelerating $540+ billion pet and animal health market, targeting areas such as pet longevity, veterinary health, therapeutics and technologies, nutrition and consumables. Over the next three years, Ani.VC plans to invest $35 million in companies across the United States, Europe and Asia.
Longevity.Technology: While the fund’s first investment is into DOG PPL, a dog park and canine social club, this is just the tip of the dog biscuit. Pet spending in the US alone is predicted to grow to $195.6 billion by 2030, and represents one of the largest consumer spending categories, with more than 66% of households in the US owning pets [1].
Just as people are taking an active interest in their own longevity and healthspan, there is a growing focus on improving these aspects for their pets. Pet owners are increasingly committed to enhancing the health, happiness and welfare of their animal companions, ensuring that their pets’ lifespans keep pace with their own, and animal longevity can benefit from advancements in human longevity, leveraging developments such as earlier and more precise diagnostics, AI-driven disease detection and new drugs and therapeutics for hard-to-treat diseases to enhance pet health and healthspan. This can often be a two-way street, with two-legged longevity studies benefiting from four-legged healthspan advancements.
According to data prepared for Longevity.Technology by digital marketing agency Antlerzz, interest in pet longevity is noticeably accelerating. Taking just the top three dog breeds in the US (Golden Retriever, Labrador and French Bulldog), these alone combined have an internet search on lifespan of 46,500 searches per month. Over the last ten years there has been a 120% increase in online interest in dog longevity the US. Worldwide there has been a similar trend, and similarly, interest in cat longevity is also on the rise, with interest over the last decade growing 121% in the US.
Interest in longevity supplements for pets are also increasing, Antlerzz tells us, with interest in feline longevity supplements growing by over 60% globally in the last 5 years and dog supplements by a whopping 182% in the US and 153% globally. Add in 32,000 searches per month in the US for canine supplements and it is clear people are looking for new ways to optimise their pets’ longevity.
This is something Garri Zmudze, co-founder of Ani.VC, recognizes.
“Our pets are part of the family. And since humans already have access to modern telemedicine and testing, wellbeing-oriented social clubs, and longevity-focused care, among many other advancements, their animal family members should too,” he said. “Alongside DOG PPL, the investments Ani.VC will make across the pet industry will meet this singular goal to elevate the lives of pets and pet parents. We look forward to pursuing the worthwhile cause of improving human and animal health.”
The fund is headquartered in Miami, Florida and New York City and founded by veteran longevity and biotech investor, Garri Zmudze, and Warren Rickard, former Head of Strategy at Basepaws (a cat-focused genetics company that successfully exited to Zoetis). Backing startups in the incubation to the Series A stage, the fund is advised by leading animal aging researcher Dr Matt Kaeberlein, Active Capital co-founder Jay DeLong (which also leads Nestlé-Purina’s PetCare Innovation Prize), and veterinarian Caroline Heller who also serves as Rumin8’s Head of Animal Health Strategy & Business Development.
Speaking about the new fund to Longevity.Technology, Zmudze told us that experiences at sister fund LongeVC led naturally to the creation of Ani.VC.
“At LongeVC, as an early-stage fund, we see many projects with solid animal data that are not necessarily translatable to humans,” he explained. “Since our pets are also part of the family, advancements in human longevity research naturally make us want the same for our companions. In terms of regulations, the entry barrier for animal and pet health projects is lower, allowing us to collect more data before potentially proceeding with human research and trials.
“Moreover, one of our advisors, Dr Matt Kaeberlein, is a leading dog aging researcher and represents longevity expertise in the fund. We are exploring technologies that can potentially be translated to humans at a later stage.
“I am excited about the fund’s focus on pet longevity and animal healthspan. It’s the right time to invest in innovations that can improve our pets’ well-being, allowing them to live longer, happier lives with us.”
[1] https://www.forbes.com/advisor/pet-insurance/pet-ownership-statistics/
