The Leap Venture Studio blog series is back after completing an exclusive studio program for pet care startups from EU and UK. In September 2022, seven early-stage pet care startups joined the program for 12-weeks to accelerate their ventures. During this time, the companies worked with experts from Mars Petcare, Michelson Found Animals and R/GA Ventures and received venture capital investment, mentorship, and customized programming tailored to meet their needs.

Petty Well (France) offers natural meals for pets, perfectly adapted to their needs, with a home delivery system, in the form of an ultra-flexible subscription for both cats and dogs.

Sacha Bigiaoui, Co-founder & CEO

Tell us about your startup

Sacha: Petty Well offers natural meals for pets, perfectly adapted to their needs, with a home delivery system, in the form of an ultra-flexible subscription for both cats and dogs.

How has your startup made a difference for pets?

Sacha: We provide innovative and high-quality products that meet the specific needs of pets and their owners. Since the beginning Petty Well has focused on:

• Research-based products
• High-quality ingredients to improve pets’ health and wellbeing
• Transparent products, processes, and ingredients
• Education and awareness on the importance of pet health and nutrition

What are the greatest challenges you’ve faced as a startup founder and how have you overcome them?

Sacha: Startup founders face challenges daily. The most important thing is to stay focused on the objective. Our motivation, for instance, is to create better food for pets and to maintain their good health in the long run. We therefore challenge ourselves daily to source high quality ingredients and to cook them in the best way to derive benefits from each ingredient. To achieve this, we have partnered with two fantastic manufacturers in France.

What is your biggest take-away from the Leap Venture Studio?

Sacha: Leap Venture Studio was an amazing experience. We met top industry experts from Mars Petcare, Michelson Found Animals & R/GA Ventures. Working with other fellow founders helped us build a community which we now often tap into to seek guidance and collaborate. It was great to be mentored by more established entrepreneurs, as well as industry experts; this helped massively in navigating through the challenges of starting and growing a company. And also, we were exposed to fresh perspectives on what it is to build a business in the pet care industry. The Leap program really encouraged us to be ambitious.

What advice would you give to fellow pet care founders who are just starting their journey?

Sacha: Here are my top four tips:

• Do what you love
• Be honest with your customers
• Ask your customers for feedback and listen to them
• Meet with bigger players and learn from them

Tell us about your pet(s)!

Sacha: I have a cute one-year-old Shiba Inu called Pumpkin. I love that she is friendly, funny but at the same time extremely stubborn!

Alexis, my business partner, has a Big Mastiff called Tara. She lives in Marseille in the south of France and goes to the beach every day!

What do you think the future of pet care looks like?

Sacha: I think innovation is booming in the pet care industry. Pet owners are demanding more transparent products. In Europe, especially in France, people want to buy local products and have labels with honest and clear information. This is a step in the right direction. It pushes the industry to develop improved products to elevate the health of pets in the long run.

Petty Well has launched two new wet recipes for cats with a higher level of protein. In 2023 Petty Well products will be on the shelves of 300 retail outlets!

To learn more about Petty Well, visit their website.

Check out Petty Well’s pitch at the Leap Venture Studio Cohort 6 Demo Day that was held on December 15, 2022. If you are interested in connecting with their team, email us at leapventurestudio@gmail.com.