With 200 million cats and dogs in European households in 2021 and a pet population now twice as large as the EU population of children under 15, the pet care sector is over a €30-billion industry in Europe.
Pet insurance startup in France, Dalma has raised €15 million in funding to disrupt the traditional pet insurance experience with personalised coverage, fast reimbursement, unlimited live vet chats and support, and charity-driven benefits.
The series A round was led by Northzone, with participation from Project A and Anterra Capital. Also participating were existing investors Global Founders Capital, Frst and Kima Ventures and prominent angel investors such as Sam Edelson (ex- director of product management at Airbnb), Olivier Bonnet (CTO of Blablacar) and Julien Gigoi (chief actuary of Luko). With the new funding, Dalma’s has raised €17 million to date.
The startup will use the capital to launch an app that will aggregate new services beyond insurance: unlimited video calls, direct payment to vets, personalised content, an e-commerce marketplace that will allow pet parents to find day-to-day pet products in two clicks via the app, empowering pet parents to take care of their pets easily with affordable products. The company also plans to expand to new markets across Europe, starting with Germany by the end of the year.
The platform aims to become the superapp for pet owners and pet care champion in Europe. In May 2021, it launched pet insurance with a two-minute subscription process, a transparent service, providing the most affordable solution on the market. According to the company, its key features include an unlimited live chat feature with vets; the fastest refund method on the market (48 hours); an 100% online product; and charity-linked insurance (part of the yearly benefits go to a chosen charity every year).
Alban De Préville, co-founder of Dalma said: “Our cats and dogs are no longer pets, they’re family. In 2020, 68% of pet owners consider their pets to be family members in France and 95% think pets have rights. We believe the time is right for us to scale our platform and make Dalma available to all pet owners in France and across Europe.”
Jessica Schultz, partner at Northzone said: “There is a huge opportunity to capture in the pet space, as strong tailwinds in pet ownership drive unprecedented growth in consumer demand. We believe pet insurance is an excellent starting point to secure the trust of pet parents, which we’ve seen already in the Nordics where more than 90% of pets are insured.”
Source: Tech EU
