Fourteen-year-old Heads Up For Tails surprised many startup enthusiasts and media as well when the company raised $37 million in its maiden institutional round in August 2021. The large fund infusion also catalyzed its scale in FY22 which crossed Rs 125 crore.
Heads Up For Tails’ operating revenue grew 85.9% to SGD 22.4 million (Rs 125.5 crore) in FY22 from SGD 22.4 million (Rs 67.5 crore) in FY21, as per the financial statements filed by its holding company Sara Global Pte Ltd in Singapore.
The Sequoia Capital-backed company offers more than 5,000 pet products and a presence in over 12 cities with over 65 stores and 35 pet spas. Revenue from the sale of pet products is the major source (over 95%) of income for the company.
On the expenditure side, the cost of material consumed accounted for 60% of the overall expenses which soared 129.8% to SGD 15.06 million (Rs 84.3 crore) in FY22 from SGD 6.55 million (Rs 36.68 crore) in the previous fiscal year (FY21).
With a workforce of over 450 people in FY22, the employee benefit expenses of the company surged 57.4% to SGD 3.7 million (Rs 20.7 crore) from SGD 2.35 million (Rs 13.16 crore) in FY21.
The company added another SGD 1.52 million or Rs 8.5 crore on advertising which pushed its total expenditure by 92.2% to SGD 24.98 million (Rs 139.9 crore) in the fiscal year ending March 2022.
While the company’s scale grew at a decent pace, its losses shot up 3.3X to SGD 2.26 million (Rs 12.6 crore) in FY22.
Heads Up For Tails closed its first venture capital round co-led by Verlinvest, Sequoia Capital. As per Fintrackr’s analysis, Sequoia and Vernalist are the major stakeholders in the company with 18.24% stake each W&C Pet Tech commands 12.42% stake. The shareholding pattern of the company can be seen here:
The Rashi Sanon Narang-led company is reportedly in talks to raise another $10-15 million round from the existing investors. Initially, the startup was in talks to raise a $50 million round from private equity firm KKR, however, the deal failed, as per a Mint report.
Also read: Sploot connects, guides, and educates pet parents
The company competes with Supertails which has raised $10 million Series A led by Fireside Ventures, Wiggles which raised $5.6 million last year and is in talks to raise another $ 15-20 million, Dogspot, Sploot, and several others.
The Indian pet care industry is estimated at Rs 74,000 crore in 2021 and is expected to reach Rs 210,000 crore by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 19.2% during the period.
A lot of the growth will be driven by ‘premiumisation’ of the existing market, besides shifting owners to buying from the market rather than use domestic solutions, especially when it comes to food and care. However, there is no doubt that the market potential is strong, with nuclearisation of families encouraging higher pet ownership with more disposable income to pamper them. In a fast evolving market, it’s safe to say that the long term winners are yet to be decided, giving Heads Up For Tails a great opportunity to build on its funding head start.
Source @Entrackr
