Écrit par

Marine Vanier
3x Head of Marketing & Communication 1x Cofounder
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At 321, we (almost) like animals more than entrepreneurs. But did you know that the two were compatible?
By studying the current growth sectors for corporate women, we identified that the PetCare market was one of the few to have such a good trajectory.
Our study shows opportunities in the field of pet insurance, as well as in the field of veterinary services or in the field of nutrition.
For the first article in this series dedicated to the PetCare market, we are going to focus on the pet insurance market, whose turnover in Europe has reached nearly 3 billion euros.
This market is growing rapidly and has given rise to several players around the world, which have raised over 135 million dollars over the last 10 years. [click here to download the full study].
An opportunity for us to meetAlban de Préville, co-founder and CEO of Dalma, an animal insurance company that is still in the news.
Alban de Préville and Raphaël Sadaka met at Frichti where one managed B2B activities while the other managed growth issues there. The two men quickly became friends.
” After three and a half years, we decided to leave the adventure to launch our own company. We joined Frichti because the mission of the company spoke to us. We are one of those entrepreneurs who need to be very close to their mission in order to give 150% of themselves. What quickly connected us with Raphaël was the love we had for our animals. ”
Indeed, Alban grew up in the countryside surrounded by numerous animals of all kinds, while Raphaël had just adopted a little dachshund. However, they do not launch on a whim and study the market patiently:
” We realized that in France, but more generally in Europe, you had fairly expensive veterinary care and a fairly confidential but very fast-growing animal insurance market. In France, you had about 5% of parents of dogs and cats who insure their animals... but with a growth rate of 15 to 20% per year. At the same time, we discovered that the leading players in the market offered a customer experience that was not ultra-satisfactory. We said we had something to do. ”
Launched in January 2021, Dalma found himself riding an unprecedented wave of adoption that followed the COVID period. In fact, if the dog and cat population increased by 1 or 2% per year before 2020, we have since reached figures that oscillate between 3 and 5%.
” Many Europeans have understood that the future of work will be more at home and this has broken some psychological barriers to the adoption of animals. ”
At the same time, the perception of animals has also evolved. Alban de Préville speaks of a much greater emotional connection than for previous generations, which leads pet owners (even if Alban rejects this term “owner” which he replaces with that of “parents” to reflect the much stronger emotional load that exists today) to spend a lot more on the well-being of their furry friends.
So it would be these two factors that explain the growth of the market. A phenomenon that has even worried the current Pope Francis who was rebelling against the fact that Europeans adopt more animals than they made children. According to him, this would be tantamount to “denying fatherhood and motherhood and diminishing us, taking away our humanity.”
The growth of the PetCare sector is great news that creates opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors.
The funds have also understood this very well, investing more than 400 million euros in the sector since 2020. Dalma greatly benefited from this by carrying out two successive capital increases in 2021 and 2022 respectively of 2 million euros for seed (with Frst and GFC) and 15 million euros for series A (with Northzone, Anterra Capital, Frst, Capital, Frst, Project A, Project A, Global Founders Capital, Kima Ventures, as well as business angels).
” This is a sector that appeals to investors for several reasons: because it is a market that is structurally growing, there are quite a few consumer markets (BtoC) that have projected growth rates of more than 20% per year. But it is also a sector that is not very digitalized and where there are still great opportunities. ”.
Dalma therefore dreams of being a European leader in animal insurance. After France, the startup has opened Germany and is starting to explore other markets even if it will do so by taking its time:
” We are committed to creating a solid and sustainable actor over time. We're going to go step by step.”
However, Sweden is ahead of the curve on these issues with already well-established players such as Lassie (insurance) or Petgood (nutrition), a state of affairs that is directly correlated to the country's situation.
” The concept of animal science originated in Sweden at the beginning of the 20th century. It is also the country that is the most advanced in terms of animal law. It was the first country to designate animals as sentient beings. France took 5 or 6 more years to follow this same path. ”
Alban de Préville therefore reminds us of the importance of the cultural context of a country. The Pet Care sector is not lacking in funding or opportunities, but mentalities still need to change to give animals a greater place in our society.
To discover the full study conducted by 321 on the Pet Care sector, it's [by following this link].
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