‘GenZ kids love pets and many of them are on an adoption spree’: Founder of Wiggles

GenZ kids love pets and more and more homes today are taking in a dog or a cat for company and to improve the quality of home life.

“Young Indians are adopting pets at an accelerated rate than the previous generations. This has also led to the need for overall demand for pet care, grooming, and health facilities. I have been very fond of animals all my life and it was easy to enter this space when I wanted to venture out as an entrepreneur,” says Anushka Iyer, Founder and CEO, Wiggles. 

While pet adoption in India is on the rise, so is pet abandonment claims Iyer. “Lack of knowledge about pet care and high expenses involved in maintaining them leads to a high number of pet abandonment each year in India. I started Wiggles to create a full service around pet care to make it easy for pet parents to maintain their pet children,” she says.

Wiggles provides behavior training, nutrition, grooming, and wellness support. Iyer started the company in 2018 and started developing pet-friendly products with the help of feedback from the pet-parent community. In 2018 Iyer started with a team of 30 and now has grown to 250 members.

The pet care industry overall is segmented into food, treats, veterinary services, wellness, pharmacy, and grooming. Among these segments, the most significant growth is seen in food, treats, and veterinary services. It is good to see pets increasingly becoming part of the family setup in India, and a rise in pet-friendly spaces such as parks, cafes, sets up, and restaurants, which has made it easier for pet owners to take their pets along with them. Wiggles is built around the needs of the pet parent community.

According to Market Decipher report, the Indian pet care market is estimated to be around Rs 74,000 crore in 2022 and is predicted to reach Rs 2,10,000 crore by 2032, with a CAGR of more than 19 per cent during the period from 2022 to 2032.

“The major growth drivers for this industry are food, healthcare, grooming, and accessories. According to reports, the pet food market in India is estimated to be around Rs 2,500 crore, with dog food dominating around 80 per cent of the market share. This market is expected to reach Rs 10,770 crore by 2025,” says Iyer.

The global pet-care market too is witnessing an explosion of sorts. “According to the Grand View Research report, the global pet care market size was valued at $150.67 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1 per cent from 2022 to 2030.

The American Pet Products Association reports that approximately 85 million households in the United States own a pet, with pet ownership rates rising from 56 per cent to 68 per cent over the past three decades,” she says.

Only a year after its launch, Wiggles raised angel funding of $1 million in 2019. Next, they raised $5.5 million in their pre-series A funding round in October 2021.

“We are currently in advanced discussions to raise approximately $20 Mn for our Series A round. We have set an ambitious goal to become a $35 million company by 2025 and to be present in at least five countries while making a positive impact on the lives of animals throughout India,” she adds.

Despite the rapid increase in the love for pets, what worries Iyer is the lack of knowledge among pet parents about pets and the rapid rates of abandonment.

“Pet adoption is a lifetime commitment and people should be responsible pet owners and ensure they have the time and resources to care for their pets properly. Pet ownership will increasingly become popular because they provide companionship, loyalty and reduce stress and anxiety and give an overall boost to mental health,” says Iyer.