Many pet and wellness brands say that their dog food is as fresh and nutritious as human food. Spot & Tango, on the other hand, makes human-grade meals for dogs that are made by veterinary nutritionists. Spot & Tango’s ready-to-serve food is made with only 12 ingredients that come from sustainable sources and don’t have additives, fillers, or preservatives, like those found in commercial kibble. The company’s meal plans are made for each pet, taking into account its level of activity, breed, allergies, preferences, and health, as well as what it likes and what it doesn’t. Subscribe to Spot and Tango on the company’s website and get meals for as little as $1.47 per meal, which is a great deal.
AlleyWatch spoke with Spot & Tango CEO and Founder Russell Breuer to discover more about the company’s origins, strategic ambitions, and the most recent round of funding, which takes the total amount raised to $56.95 million.
How much money did you raise?
This comes after we raised $38.5 million in a second round and $13.25 million in a first-round, led by Valor Equity Partners.
Tell us about what Spot & Tango sells or does.
For our signature UnKibbleTM food, the first-ever Fresh DryTM dog food, we’re Spot & Tango. We’re known for that, too. Assisting pet parents in providing their canines with the nutrition they need to thrive is one of Spot & Tango’s primary goals.
Who came up with the idea for Spot & Tango in the first place?
To feed Jack, my wife and I would make him home-cooked meals. This made me think about how little healthy, fresh food there was for dogs.
How are Spot & Tango unique?
There are ready-to-eat, human-grade meals that Spot & Tango sends to your dog. They are made for your dog’s unique nutrition needs. These are just a few of the benefits of Spot & Tango’s UnKibble.
Quality: Meets or exceeds industry standards with 100% whole foods. There are no artificial flavors, colors, or ingredients.
Personalization: Before establishing a meal plan, several criteria are considered, including allergies, exercise levels, breed, flavor preferences, and health concerns – all the way down to the scoop size!
Sustainably-minded: Each delivery is sent from a distribution center that is close to where the boxes can be recycled.
Full transparency: On the front of every carton, the whole ingredient profiles are listed, allowing customers to see exactly what they are buying.
No retail markup:
We sell directly to you to maintain a great quality and reasonable prices.
Customers say their dogs do cartwheels when they come to their Spot & Tango bowls because they are so excited.
Spot & Tango wants to reach what kind of people and how big is the market they want to reach.
People buy pets for billions of dollars, and the wellness market is growing quickly. Spot & Tango makes products and solutions with fresh, whole ingredients that help pets stay healthy, like obesity, diabetes, and allergies.
What do you do for a living?
Online, direct-to-consumer, and subscription business model: Spot & Tango is a business model. We offer personalized meal plans, free shipping, and a 100% Happy Pup Guarantee: If your dog doesn’t like our food, we’ll give you your money back. This is what we do. It’s easy.
What are you going to do after COVID?
Work-life balance is important to us, therefore we’ve made it a priority to create a workplace that’s flexible enough to satisfy the demands of our employees while still accommodating the requirements of COVID. It’s currently possible for us to have a hybrid office. We work three times a week in the office and two times a week from home.
What was the process of getting money?
A and B rounds were led by Valor Equity Partners, and they did both of them for us. Before we could get more money, we had to have a well-thought-out operating model and business plan. This was based on the product-market fit and rapid growth we had already achieved in the Seed round.
You want to know what made the people who invested in your business give you the money.
It’s all about the mission, the growth of the company, and having a great team! We are developing new pet food products that are good for your pet’s health and well-being, and we’re also building a community of pet parents who love their pets as much as we do. One of the things that investors love about our team is that they can come up with solutions to problems and quickly adapt.
Do you intend to set any goals for the next six months?
There are a lot of new recipes coming out soon, and we have a lot of new partnerships in the works! Our main goals for Q2 and Q3 are to hire more people, grow our supply chain, and improve the customer experience on our website.
