Drizzle on top: a new brand of premium dog food coming in at 1%

The pasture has never been full, which is why Hillary Coles says she was skeptical when Atomic Labs came calling.

“I did the same thing,” Coles told me over the phone Monday afternoon, a day before his company’s launch. The Golden Childopen for business. “It may not be what people need.”

Coles co-founded Hims & Hers with Andrew Dudum, Jack Abraham, and Joe Spector back in 2016 and spent seven years overseeing brand, product, and consumer strategies before taking a year and a half to have her own children. He calls himself “the first person to shop” who came to the hospital. Dog food was not “on the bingo card,” as he put it.

The word that won him over was very little on dog food especially in his style. Atomiki, the startup studio founded by Abraham, runs what it calls “household tests” — lightweight tests designed to reveal what consumers will do, not what they say they want. When Atomiki ran the test in a feedlot, interest was evident. The team also studied 11,000 reviews of new dog foods that were already out there and found recurring complaints: messy, sick dogs, food that seemed like a chore to prepare and serve. “We started peeling the onion,” Coles said.

What they found, he and co-founder Quentin Lacorneri argue, is a business that hasn’t innovated in nearly 12 years — a claim that’s confusing, depending on the situation. full a very important and public sector has been – but which is said to be linked to 11,000 customer reviews that show constant complaints about the new food already available, as people feed their dogs have changed their expectations.

Lacornerie, who was part of the founding team of Hims & Hers and spent years leading its growth strategy, says there are many similarities to the company’s early days. “The quality has surpassed Big Pharma by 4x in the market,” he said. Pet parents who take collagen for good health, who read their labels, and who follow their diets are more likely to use what goes into their dog’s bowl.

Golden Child is launching with two “five star” products that are currently sold directly to consumers: a cool new food and a very interesting, “drip” – a shelf-stable liquid container that can be added to anything the dog has already eaten, whether it’s Golden Child food, treats, or something else. Drizzle costs $19.95 a bottle. The meal plan starts at $3 a day and is sold mainly by subscription, although a starter box is available for people who want to relax in the relationship.

Irrigation is the most unusual idea, and, perhaps, the most advanced. I asked Coles if the company had decided to focus on the product. “Like all businesses, we have a lot of opportunity to create countries,” he replied. “This is the first inning.”

The food is produced in the U.S. across multiple manufacturing facilities, using human supply chains — something harder to implement than it sounds, Lacornerie said. The recipe was developed by a PhD in animal nutrition; Megan Sparkle, who is one of about 80 certified nutritionists in the country; is (naturally) a trained chef, with work for Ina Garten and Guy Fieri, says Lacornerie.

The company has also developed what it calls a “protein block,” a way to provide chicken and beef with additional amino acids that individual cuts of meat don’t provide, Coles says.

Golden Child is announcing $37 million in total funding today as it comes from a private equity round – a seed and Series A round led by Redpoint Ventures, with Atomic and A-Star as well. That’s a lot of money for a dog food company, but Lacornerie says that success requires real professionals who don’t just sing.

The brand name is great with design. When I asked if Golden Child could expand into shampoos, travel accessories, and even another way to get pets — to find medicine for dogs with their chronic headaches — Coles didn’t say no. “There is a lot of interest and excitement from pet parents to bring their dogs into all aspects of their lives,” she said. The goal, ultimately, is to find a place as a household brand, not a food company.

Atomic has had notable successes along with some stumbles. Hims & Hers, now 10 years old, is a publicly traded company with $7 billion in revenue. OpenStore, an e-commerce roll-up founded in 2021 by Abraham and investor Keith Rabois, tells us another story: after many years of crowdfunding and more than $150 million in revenue, it recently closed.