Hong Kong’s Buddy Bites closes $1 million seed funding round

Buddy Bites, a premium dog food company operating in Singapore and the UK, has secured $1 million (€886K) in seed funding from Leap Venture Studio, an investment project run by Mars Petcare.

The company plans to use the funds to support national market expansions. Later this year, the brand would like to enter the Taiwanese market, a new territory for it. Like many parts of Asia, Taiwan’s pet industry has been growing quickly, and is worth around $1 billion (€892M).

Buddy Bites offers a variety of prebiotic food recipes based on specific protein sources, including a lamb recipe, a duck recipe and a salmon recipe. The company also provides a specially formulated puppy recipe.

Though the company is based in Hong Kong, the food is produced in Europe and imported to customers in Asia. It offers a subscription service and markets itself as a socially conscious brand with recyclable packaging.

It’s 1 of 9 companies awarded by Mars earlier in the year. “We are thrilled to have Buddy Bites joining Cohort 9 of the Leap Venture Studio program,” says the program co-lead, Rachel Sheppard. “Their commitment to providing pets with premium dog food is matched by their incredible impact in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK through their shelter give-back program.”