Musicians Joan Jett, Sia invest $17.5M in Boulder pet food company

BOULDER — Bond Pet Foods Inc., a Boulder-based pet food startup that contains proteins made through a process of fermentation rather than meat, has closed on a $17.5 million Series A fundraising round, which included investment from musicians Joan Jett and Sia Isabelle Furler.

The company said proceeds from the raise will be used to build out a 15,000-square-foot production facility in central Boulder. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome this diverse, world-class coalition of investors into the Bond family,” Bond CEO Rich Kelleman said in a prepared statement. “With their support we’ll be able to take our work to the next level, developing and scaling a variety of meat proteins for our valued partners in the pet food space.”

Bond was founded in 2017 and has developed a process for making animal proteins similar to those used to create lactic acid and enzymes for cheese production. No farming is required to manufacture Bond’s pet food products. 

“The company’s recent achievements on strain development and cost, as well as their expanding relationships with global strategic partners, have validated Bond’s technology platform and their ability to usher in a new era of responsible protein for our pets,” Jenny Rooke, managing director of Genoa Ventures, one of the Series A investors, said in a prepared statement. “We’re bullish about Bond’s approach and their potential to change the pet food supply chain for the better.”

Bond raised a $1.2-million seed round in 2019, and total fundraising stands at $20 million after the Series A completion. 

In addition to Jett, Furler and Genoa Ventures, investors in the Series A included ADM Ventures, Cavallo Ventures, Lever VC, Thia Ventures, iSelect Fund, Stage 1 Fund, Lifely VC and Satori Capital.

“We’re excited to be a part of this next chapter of Bond Pet Foods’ growth,” ADM pet food president Jorge Martinez said in a prepared statement. “Pet nutrition, with industry sales at $100 billion and growing at 4.5% a year, is an important growth pillar for ADM. More and more, consumers demand their pets eat the same sustainable, responsibly – produced food that they themselves eat, and proteins produced by precision fermentation are key to being part of the future of the industry. We’ve expanded our capabilities in these categories and are proud to be part of the Bond Pet Foods journey, as they offer new opportunities to bring these growth trends together.”

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