KetoNatural Pet Foods, a pet food startup founded by companion animal nutrition author and activist Daniel Schulof, has announced the closing of a $2M seed financing transaction led by Chicago-based fund Corazon Capital.
KetoNatural are the makers of Ketona, a first-of-its-kind dry pet food with the low carbohydrate and high protein content previously only found in raw or fresh pet food products.
“We founded KetoNatural because we believe that pet owners were being underserved in the modern pet food market,” said Schulof. “Prior to Ketona, if you wanted to feed your dog a truly low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet, your only options were expensive, inconvenient raw products. Ketona changed all that. It has the kind of nutritional content previously only found in raw diets, but with the price and convenience of a kibble.”
In his 2016 book, Dogs, Dog Food, and Dogma, Schulof argued that carbs are the root cause of many of the common health problems experienced by dogs and cats in America. “The relevant scientific evidence is under-publicized but crystal clear,” he said. “The epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases ravaging America’s pet populations can all be traced to a single source–the excessive consumption of dietary carbohydrates.”
According to Schulof, the average carbohydrate content of the ten most popular grain-free pet food brands in America is more than 30%, while KetoNatural’s recipes are less than 5% carbohydrate. “Our products are truly revolutionary. They contain twice as much meat-based protein and 80% less carbohydrate per serving than our leading competitors. For a fifty pound dog, this means that switching from a leading grain-free kibble to Ketona will remove the equivalent of 400 potatoes per year from the animal’s diet.”
Schulof said that much of the $2 million investment will be spent “on marketing designed to engage pet owners in vital discussions about the health and well-being of their pets.” The company also intends to expand its product line, grow its team, and invest in new scientific work that Schulof expects will demonstrate the efficacy of low-carbohydrate diets as treatments for a host of common canine ailments.
Schulof believes the investment is a signal of acceleration in the well-documented pet food industry trend towards consumers humanizing their household pets. “There are hundreds of pet food brands selling products in the United States today,” he said. “And all of them are saying essentially the same thing: our products are healthy. But in the vast majority of cases, there’s no science supporting their claims. It’s just hollow jargon.
“That’s what makes KetoNatural different. We don’t just claim our that products are uniquely healthy, we explain why and we use science to prove it to our customers. Because we believe that’s the least that pet owners and their beloved companions deserve.”
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