Drizzle on top: A new premium dog food brand is coming for the 1%

Pet food stores have never been busier, which is why Hillary Coles said she was skeptical when she called Atomic Labs.

“I had the same reaction as you,” Coles said in a phone call Monday afternoon, a day before his new company, Golden Child, opened its doors. “Obviously that can’t be what people need.”

Coles co-founded Hims & Hers in 2016 with Andrew Dudum, Jack Abraham and Joe Spector, where she oversaw the brand, physical product and consumer strategy for seven years before taking a year and a half off to have her children. She describes herself as a “consumer first” who got into the healthcare field by accident. Dog food wasn’t, as she put it, “on the bingo card.”

The argument that persuaded her was rooted in methodology rather than dog food. Atomic, a startup studio founded by Abraham, runs the “painted door test,” a light-hearted experiment designed to reveal what consumers will actually do, not just what they want. When Atomic ran these tests in the pet food space, interest became apparent. The team then looked at 11,000 reviews of existing fresh dog foods and found recurring complaints, including that they were uncomfortable, dogs got sick, and that preparing and serving the food felt like a hassle. “We’re starting to peel back the layers of the onion,” Coles said.

She and her co-founder Quentin Lacornerie claim that what they discovered was an industry that had not seen innovation in about 12 years. This is a claim that’s hard to beat, considering how crowded the premium and human grade sectors have become. But one of the things they discovered, they say, had to do with 11,000 customer reviews that showed continued dissatisfaction with existing fresh food options, even as people who feed their dogs have dramatically changed their expectations.

Lacornerie, who spent several years driving personalized growth strategies as part of Hims & Hers’ founding team, says there are many similarities to the company’s early days. “Wellness has outpaced big pharma by four times in market capitalization,” he noted. Pet parents who consume collagen for joint health, read ingredient labels, and track their own nutrition increasingly want the same rigor to be applied to the collagen that goes into their dog’s bowl.

Golden Child is currently launching two “5-star” products sold directly to consumers. A fresh frozen meal system and, more interestingly, “Drizzles” (a shelf-stable liquid topper that can be added to Golden Child’s kibble, kibble, or whatever your dog is already eating). Drizzle sells for $19.95 per bottle. Meal systems start at $3 per day and are primarily sold as subscriptions, but starter boxes are also available for those who want to ease into the relationship.

Drizzle is a more novel idea, and probably one with higher margins. I asked Coles if the company had considered focusing solely on that product. “Like all entrepreneurs, we have many opportunities to build the world,” she responded. “This is the first inning.”

Lacornerie said the food itself is made in the United States through multiple manufacturing facilities using a human-level supply chain, which is harder to establish than you might think. The recipe was developed by a doctor in animal nutrition. Megan Sparkle is one of approximately 80 board certified veterinary nutritionists in the United States. Lacornerie says he is (naturally) a classically trained chef with working relationships with Ina Garten and Guy Fieri.

The company has also developed “protein blocks,” a way to provide chicken and beef with an enhanced amino acid profile that standard meat alone cannot provide, Coles says.

Golden Child came out of stealth today and announced funding totaling $37 million. Seed round and Series A led by Redpoint Ventures, Atomic and A-Star are also participating. It’s a significant amount for a company that sells dog food, but Lacornerie says doing it right requires real professionals, not just making phone calls. In fact, of the company’s 12 employees, the nutritionist and chef are all employees, not advisors.

The brand name is broad in design. When asked if Golden Child could eventually expand into shampoo, travel gear and even some form of veterinary services, getting medication for dogs is a bureaucratic headache in itself. Coles did not deny this. “There is a lot of interest and excitement among pet parents who want to involve their dogs in all aspects of their lives,” she said. Ultimately, the goal is to establish itself as a lifestyle brand rather than simply a food company.

Atomic has had notable successes, with a few missteps. Now 10 years old, Hims & Hers is a publicly traded company with a market capitalization of nearly $7 billion. OpenStore, an e-commerce rollup co-founded in 2021 by Abraham and venture capitalist Keith Rabois, tells a different story. After years of glowing press and more than $150 million in venture funding, it recently closed.