Melbourne startup Elita doubles down on dog longevity

Melbourne startup Elita doubles down on dog longevity

The pet health startup has completed its second fundraising round, pulling in $1.9 million from America’s Boost VC, Gandel Invest and Artesian.

The longevity boom might be all the rage for humans, but Melbourne startup Elita is betting dogs are next.

The pet health company has raised $1.9 million from US venture firm Boost VC, Gandel Invest, Artesian’s Female Leaders Fund, Touch Ventures and M8 Ventures as it expands beyond its original cell-banking business into a broader platform aimed at extending dogs’ healthy lives.

“We believe that Elita is about to give dogs better standard of care than humans,” Boost VC founder and managing director Adam Draper said. “They are at the forefront of the bio breakthroughs, and will enable dogs to live longer than ever.”

Elita co-founder Paloma Newton told Capital Brief the round was completed in three weeks, with another $100,000 left open for potential strategic investors.

For a company with ambitions to build what Newton calls “the biggest pet healthcare brand in the world”, it is a relatively small round. Newton said that was deliberate.

“We were after a fantastic partner in the US, which we got. We were after a really strong partner in Australia, which we got through Gandel, and we were also after a partner who could be a global growth partner, which is Artesian,” she said.