Round-up: The latest pet funding rounds

Companies across pet food, grooming, nutrition and health are putting new capital toward production expansion, development, technology and growth. 

Sparkle Grooming

American dog grooming franchise Sparkle Grooming has secured $6 million (€5.2M) in strategic growth investment led by Companion Fund, the venture capital fund managed by Digitalis Ventures in partnership with Mars Petcare.

According to the company, the new capital will primarily strengthen 3 key areas: corporate and field-support teams, demand-generation programs that help franchisees build local businesses and continued development of its proprietary technology platform.

“Our goal is to invest in the people, systems and infrastructure required to support franchise partners from the moment they join Sparkle through the opening and ongoing operation of their salons,” the company tells GlobalPETS.

The investment will also support the development of its Quick-Service Pet Care model, which combines recurring wellness memberships, standardized operations and a hospitality-driven grooming experience.

Sparkle says it has awarded more than 600 franchise licenses in approximately 2 years. The network currently has 10 salons open, with at least 20 expected to be operating by the end of 2026 and more than 30 additional openings planned for 2027.

MOA Foodtech

Spanish biotech firm MOA Foodtech closed a €3.3 million ($3.8M) round led by the European Innovation Council Fund, Swanlaab Venture Factory and CDTI Innovación.

MOA Foodtech develops functional ingredients from industrial agri-food byproducts through AI-driven fermentation for various industries, including pet food. The investment will increase its fermentation capacity from 120,000 liters to 225,000 liters, allowing customers to move from product trials to larger commercial volumes. 

“We will also continue expanding our technology licensing model and developing new applications for our ingredients across pet food and animal nutrition, alongside food and health-related applications,” the company tells GlobalPETS.

Pet food is one of MOA Foodtech’s main commercial priorities, with the company already offering a yeast-based ingredient for the sector.

According to MOA Foodtech, the ingredient is designed to function as both a binder and natural palatant, provides structural functionality in wet pouches and dry kibble, and is produced through fermentation using agri-food side streams.

DASH Dog Food

Fresh-frozen pet food brand DASH Dog Food has secured $1.5 million (€1.3M) in a seed round led by early-stage venture capital firm Voltage Ventures, which focuses on animal health, as it prepares to expand its product range and subscription business.

The company plans to introduce seafood and turkey recipes to its existing beef and chicken lineup. It will also roll out redesigned packaging as part of the expansion.

“Both new recipes are sourced from suppliers the team worked with for years at ButcherBox and were shaped by direct customer feedback. The company is allocating roughly 10% of the round to research and development on the new formulations,” Bobby Quirk, Founder of DASH, tells GlobalPETS.

The company will also use the capital to expand paid acquisition and scale its subscription business. DASH separated from American meat subscription platform ButcherBox in June 2025, and says its revenue has grown 130% since. Following its formal rebrand in June 2026, DASH discontinued its dry food line to focus exclusively on fresh-frozen products.

Elita

Elita, a Melbourne-based pet health startup, has raised A$1.9 million ($1.3M/€1.65M) in its second funding round, following its $1.1 million (€943K) pre-seed round, which closed in July 2025. The latest round attracted support from US venture firm Boost VC, alongside Gandel Invest and Artesian’s Female Leaders Fund.

Paloma Newton, Co-Founder and CEO of Elita, tells GlobalPETS that the capital will support the launch of the company’s at-home biological testing for dogs, intended to help owners investigate specific health concerns before they become emergencies.

The startup is developing some tests in-house while also bringing additional tests to market through partnerships with established providers. “Healthcare is episodic, in humans and in pets. You’re seen when something is already wrong, you get a result, and then nothing happens until the next problem. Nobody is watching the gap in between,” she says.

“We’re building the opposite: a picture of a dog’s health that keeps building over their life, so their vet and their owner are working from everything, not from the last twenty minutes,” Newton adds.