Most Indian pets are usually fed home-cooked food. While several pet food brands have tried to promote packaged food as an alternative, they have largely remained an alternative to home-cooked food. This has also shaped the growth of the pet food market in recent years.

However, while affordable, localised dog food has grown quickly, cat nutrition is still a smaller and more restricted category.

It’s not that Indian cat parents are denying their feline overlords better food, but rather, as a country, we’re more likely to welcome a tail-wagger into the family than a purring self-appointed CEO of the house.

As of 2024, India had an estimated 37 Mn pet dogs, compared to just 4 Mn cats. But the gap isn’t only about numbers. Cats have more specific dietary needs and rely much more on specialised nutrition.

Yet the category has largely been served by imported brands such as Whiskas and Me-O, where pricing, formulations and ingredient choices are not fully adapted to Indian conditions.

It is this gap that Smylo is trying to fill.

Founded in 2024 by former Titan Capital executives Abhishek Agrawal and Kartikeya Gupta, the startup is a cat food brand that offers preservative-free products.

The brand stems from the personal experience of the founders, who struggled to meet the nutritional needs of their pet cat, Smylo.

While working at an investment firm, the first-time cat parents found themselves enveloped in limited clarity on suitable, sustainable nutrition for their pet. This had major repercussions. Within months, they noticed their cat’s health deteriorating, with multiple issues emerging, eventually leading to Smylo’s demise.

While they couldn’t bring Smylo back, the grieving founders decided to change what many cat parents unknowingly put their pets through. It was time to dive deep into pet nutrition and understand what truly helps cats live long and healthy lives. Imperative to mention that domestic cats have a lifespan of 12-18 years.

And to pursue this, the duo quit their cushy jobs in 2023 to work on fulfilling India’s cat food requirements. While they registered a company in 2023, they started selling only in November 2024.

Smylo recently drew wide attention after featuring on Shark Tank India, aiding its bid to reach more consumers as it looks to capture the market that has long been underserved.

Speaking with Inc42, the founders said that Smylo’s is built on three key pillars — natural food for cats, a high-protein diet, and human-grade food. Agrawal asserts that while other existing brands in the market use artificial preservatives and commercial products in their cat food, Smylo’s products are based solely on fresh meat.

The founders researched for nearly a year to figure out recipes that are palatable for 80-85% of cats in India. Along with keeping the product all natural, Smylo also has a shelf life of 18 months without cold storage support.

“Cats are carnivores. Scientists and researchers say that they are supposed to get a meat-based diet. But when you look at the products that exist in the market, they are harmful and carcinogenic because they do not give you any nutrition, which is imperative for cats’ overall health and wellness,” Gupta said.

Talking about no-preservative but 18-month-long shelf life, Agrawal added that the startup uses compounds that include Tocopherol and Vitamin E, which work as antioxidants on the meat to help facilitate a longer shelf life for their products.

Additionally, Smylo also uses the retort packaging technique, which is a thermal processing method that sterilises packaged, shelf-stable food using high heat.

Symlo sells separate products for kittens and adult cats, based on what cats need to maintain their health at different stages of their lives. Besides, there are different categories of food offered under Smylo, including wet food (gravies), dry food and broth.

Smylo also experiments with different flavours and ingredients. For instance, it serves a combination of meat and fish with ingredients like rosemary, pomegranate, pumpkin, and cranberry, among others.

Additionally, its broth-based collection is disrupting the market, as it fulfils the water intake requirement in cats.

“Pathologically, cats don’t drink enough water. Hence, broths are a good add-on to the daily diet,” Gupta said.

On the pricing front, a single meal packet costs around INR 84. The products are available on their own website, ecommerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and quick commerce majors Blinkit and Zepto.

The cofounders claim that Smylo’s monthly average sale is in the range of INR 50-55 Lakh. While sales from its website and ecommerce bring in about 80% revenue, its quick commerce sales account for the remainder of its income.

Smylo gets a large chunk of its revenue from Maharashtra and Karnataka, along with growing interest from cities like Hyderabad, Kozhikode, and Lucknow.

While the founders did not disclose the exact funding amount raised to date, they said that Smylo has raised smaller rounds before receiving capital during their appearance on Shark Tank last month.

With warehouses across Gurugram, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Pune, Smylo is looking to dominate the cat food and care market first before experimenting with any other pet care sector in the future.

Edited by Shishir Parasher

The post When Home-Cooked Isn’t Enough: Smylo’s Quest To Feed India’s 4 Mn Pet Cats appeared first on Inc42 Media.