Investing in Buddy Bites
Today, I’m excited to announce our investment in Buddy Bites, a purpose-driven subscription dog food brand in Asia.
Our Investment Thesis
“At WNJ Ventures, we look to invest in innovative brands with a vision to make a positive impact to our next generation and society.”
Consumer brands represent a key focus sector for us and we believe emerging Direct-to-Consumer (“D2C”) brands will be a driving force of innovation around brand building, creative marketing and business model.
Within this space, Buddy Bites have built up a strong, unique brand affinity with next generation pet owners, a group which represents a powerful, generational culture shift: “fewer babies, more puppies”.
Hong Kong’s First Purpose-Driven Subscription Dog Food Brand
When we first met with co-founders Ryan and Chris, we were impressed by their vision to serve all dog shelters in the market, and their execution in donating 1kg of dog food to affiliated dog shelters for every 2kg Buddy Bites sold (closing to 900,000+ meals donated since inception as at end of 2022).
The Buddy Bites team brings a blend of passion and expertise which they have demonstrated by turning a side project into a high growth and scalable startup within a 24-month timeframe, serving European-produced, nutritious, vet-recommended dog food in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Our Investment
We led the seed-stage investment in Buddy Bites, together with a group of seasoned angel investors, serial-entrepreneurs and family offices, with a view to support and accelerate the team’s growth into key Asia markets.
With a proven business model and brand fully designed to fit next generation consumption behaviours (e-commerce, social responsibility, tailor-made product/service proposition), we believe the business is strategically well-positioned and well-supported by a diverse team to successfully capture a fast-growing pet food market in Asia.
We look forward to bringing our expertise around business development, marketing and financing to help and work together with Buddy Bites and further accelerate their growth.
Wing Lee — Partner, WNJ Ventures
