If the name sounds familiar to you, it’s because the Colombian company Laika adopted the name of one of the first canines that Russia sent into space. And now, four years after its birth, the company has raised US$48 million in a Series B.
The round was led by SoftBank, but Delivery Hero (who recently announced the sale of most of its Rappi shares), JAM Fund and FJ Labs also participated. Other participating investors were Kavak’s CEO Carlos Garcia Otatti; Pedro Garay, the CEO of GBM; and Emil Michael, who worked at Uber, according to Crunchbase.
In previous rounds, Y Combinator, Streamlined Ventures and InQulab have also backed Laika. As such, the startup today has already raised around US$65 million in funding.
More Products and More Countries in LatAm
Siblings Camilo and Manuela Sánchez Villamarín are Laika’s co-founders; they then have COO Tulio Jiménez and CMO Andrea González. They plan to use the new funding to launch a US$10/month dog and cat insurance during the first quarter of 2022.
Laika will also use the money from this round to reach more markets: Argentina, Peru and Ecuador are in their plans so far.
Laika’s business model is based on selling hygiene products, food, toys, as well as veterinary, bathing and insurance services for dogs and cats. They do this all through their digital platform; and they have a two-hour delivery promise.
Laika’s business is similar to that of Chewy.com, a company that was born in Florida, USA, and is already listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Until the announcement of the new financing, the Colombian company stated that it has 500 employees and 300,000 active users in Mexico, Colombia and Chile.
You may also be interested in: What a pet startup bonanza says about the state of Latin America
