Buddy Bites raises $4.2M Series A, adds cat food after five years of subscription-led growth
Hong Kong pet food startup Buddy Bites has raised a $4.2 million Series A led by Digitalis Ventures, an experienced animal health and life sciences investor, with additional backing from Hong Kong-based angel investor Adrian Lai. It marks Buddy Bites’ first Series A, following an earlier seed-stage investment of $1 million from Leap Venture Studio accelerator in 2025, and comes as the direct-to-consumer pet food brand pushes beyond dogs into cats for the first time.
Founded in 2020 by UK nationals Ryan Black and Chris Lee, Buddy Bites built its business on a subscription model tied to a giving-back commitment: for every two kilograms of food sold, the company donates one kilogram to dog shelters.
The founders, who between them have three rescue dogs from the company’s first shelter partner, Catherine’s Puppies in Hong Kong, describe the donation program as central to the brand rather than a marketing add-on. It has scaled alongside the business, now moving more than 20 tonnes of food monthly and having delivered over 188 tonnes, roughly 3.7 million meals, to shelters across Hong Kong and Singapore over the past year.
Buddy Bites has passed $6 million in annual recurring revenue, with subscriptions accounting for 85.9% of that revenue, and added 10,000 new customers over the last twelve months for 68% year-over-year growth. That trajectory is part of what drew Digitalis Ventures in for its first pet food investment in Asia.
“This is a big moment for Buddy Bites and for premium pet nutrition in Asia,” said Ryan Black, co-founder and CEO. “Digitalis is perhaps the most experienced investor in the space. They’re betting on a category we believe is about to take off, and on a brand built to give back in the process.”
Ben Jacobs, partner at Digitalis Ventures, pointed to the discipline behind the growth numbers as the deciding factor:
“Ryan and Chris have built exactly the kind of business we look for: disciplined, subscription-first, and growing fast with real customer loyalty behind it,” he said. “Pet ownership and premium nutrition demand are accelerating across Asia, and Buddy Bites is as well positioned as any team we’ve seen to lead that shift.”
The new capital will fund three parallel moves: scaling the core dog food line, which now spans air-dried, wet and dry formats; the company’s June 2026 launch into cat food, its first category expansion in five years; and shelf-stable fresh dog food product planned for later this year, which the founders are positioning around what they call the humanisation of pet food, treating pet meals with the same freshness expectations pet parents apply to their own.
“We are very fortunate to be able to see a lot of data on our customers, and what consumer sentiment looks like,” said Chris Lee, co-founder and COO. “We continue to see both humanisation and convenience being high priorities for pet parents in our markets, and we believe in shelf stable fresh we have a product perfect for pet parents in the region.”
An expansion into Taiwan is also planned as the next geographic step.
Featured image: Courtesy of Buddy Bites
Disclosure: This article mentions a client of an Espacio portfolio company.
