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§ Private Profile · Helsinki, Finland
Direct-to-consumer pet care company offering personalized, sustainable dog food for conscious dog owners, focused on pet health.
Alvar Pet has raised $3.5M across 3 funding rounds.
Key people at Alvar Pet.
Alvar Pet has raised $3.5M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Alvar Pet is a Helsinki, Finland-based direct-to-consumer e-commerce company that develops and sells personalized, sustainable dog food tailored to individual canine nutritional needs. The organization operates a subscription-based business model utilizing a proprietary recommendation engine, currently serving over 40,000 active pet households across the Nordic region and Germany. Following an initial €1 million seed funding round led by venture capital firm Maki.vc, the enterprise expanded its international delivery operations and maintains a workforce of 11 to 50 employees. In April 2024, the firm acquired the Finnish pet retailer Kivuton and partnered with private equity investor Juuri Partners, creating a combined corporate entity with more than €10 million in annual sales and 60% organic growth. Alvar Pet was officially founded in 2020 by co-founders Ilari Haataja, Henna Söderholm, Hanna Lemmetti, Aleksi Erma, and Sanni Kariniemi.
Key people at Alvar Pet.
Alvar Pet has raised $3.5M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Seed in November 2021.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2021 | $2M Seed | — | ALI Omar, Henry Nilert, Pontus Juntunen, Tero Luoma | Announced |
| Aug 1, 2020 | $1M Seed | Maki.vc | ALI Omar, Henry Nilert, Olli Herlin, Pontus Juntunen, Tero Luoma | Announced |
| Apr 1, 2020 | $540K Seed | — | ALI Omar, Henry Nilert, Olli Herlin, Pontus Juntunen, Tero Luoma | Announced |
Alvar Pet has raised $3.5M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Alvar Pet's investors include Ali Omar, Henry Nilert, Pontus Juntunen, Tero Luoma, Maki.vc, Olli Herlin.
Alvar Pet is a Helsinki-based startup founded in 2019 that produces sustainable, veterinarian-developed dog food personalized to each dog's health needs and life stage, using high-quality natural ingredients to minimize environmental impact.[1][2][5][6] It serves conscious pet owners in the Nordics and beyond, addressing overconsumption in the pet industry by offering mass-personalized diets via a proprietary recommendation engine, direct-to-consumer subscription model, and now an expanded e-commerce platform following its acquisition of Kivuton.[1][2][3][4][6] The company has demonstrated strong growth momentum, serving over 40,000 pet households across Finland, Sweden, and Denmark with combined annual sales exceeding €10 million (showing 60% organic growth), seed funding, a recent international office in Berlin, and backing from investors like Founders' Edge, Maki.vc, and Juuri Partners.[2][3][4]
Alvar Pet was co-founded in 2019 by Ilari Haataja (CEO, former EQT vice president and BoD at Musti Group), Henna Söderholm (Vet and CPO), Hanna Lemmetti (CMO, now in Berlin), and Sini Saalasti (COO).[1][2] The idea emerged from rising dog ownership in Finland—where more puppies are born than babies annually—and concerns over the pet industry's environmental toll, including meat-heavy feeds and overconsumption, amid growing eco-aware lifestyles.[1][2][5] Commercial launch occurred in April 2020, quickly serving 10,000 pups in Finland; pivotal moments include the Berlin office opening, Juuri Partners investment, and the 2024 acquisition of Kivuton (originally a veterinary clinic), creating the Nordics' largest pet health online store.[2][3][4]
Alvar Pet rides the premium pet care trend, where global pet market growth to $500 billion by 2030 fuels demand for tailored, health-focused nutrition amid pet humanization and sustainability pressures.[3][4] Timing aligns with post-2020 e-commerce acceleration and eco-conscious consumers rejecting industry overconsumption; market forces like rising special-needs diets (half of dogs) and Nordic sustainability ethos favor its local, low-impact model.[1][2][3][4][6] It influences the ecosystem by pioneering proptech-like personalization in pet food, acquiring e-commerce to dominate Nordic health platforms, and setting standards for climate-positive pet products, potentially scaling across Europe.[2][3][4]
Alvar Pet is positioned for pan-European leadership in sustainable pet wellness, leveraging its Kivuton integration, €10M+ revenue base, and 60% growth to capture premium segments in expanding markets like Germany.[3][4] Trends like AI-driven personalization, subscription e-commerce, and green regulations will propel it, with potential for cat/small animal expansion and further M&A.[2][6][7] Its influence may evolve from Nordic disruptor to category-defining player, proving pet ownership can align with climate goals—reinforcing its mission that pups bring joy without planetary cost.[1][5]
