León Quesney, Nicolás Calvo, and Cristián Peirano are three friends who love dogs and nature. This has inspired them to launch a business venture that aims to address the challenging aspects of caring for our pets: the sustainability of the entire supply chain associated with this commitment.

“It was a pandemic-era startup,” says Nicolás Calvo. At first, they focused on food packaging, but they soon realized that the biggest carbon footprint came from the food itself. “About 70% of the carbon footprint of dog food comes from the meat used to produce it,” says Calvo.

From there, they embarked on a two-year journey to develop dog food made from insect protein. In partnership with the University of Chile and with support from Corfo, they developed and tested their product, which was formally launched in November 2022. They partnered with F4F, a company that produces insect protein from black soldier fly larvae. 

Calvo highlights the benefits of this type of food. “In addition to sustainability, we’ve discovered that they’re hypoallergenic and highly digestible.” They compete in the premium pet food market through their e-commerce platform, where they offer a subscription service. They’re also available in some stores, as well as in pet-friendly.

But Circular Pet isn’t just dog food. “We’re a company that offers sustainable products and services for pets,”, says Calvo. With that vision in mind, Circular Pet has already launched a line of pet accessories, COD.33, made from recycled fire hoses; and it is developing other sustainable products, such as foods and supplements containing ingredients like regenerative seaweed and fruit and vegetable waste. They also aim to collaborate with other projects sharing the same goal: to build a community of sustainability pioneers, such as the production of compostable poop bags or distribution systems using electric vehicles.

With their first products on the market, they now face the financial challenge of scaling up. The project was initially funded by contributions from the partners and their families, as well as an angel investor and funding from Corfo programs. They are now seeking new angel investors and have not ruled out a Series A funding round next year.

The market is large and growing. In Chile alone, it is estimated that there are, on average, more than two pets per household. The same is true in other Latin American countries, which is the market the partners are targeting.

But the important thing is that Circular Pet’s vision goes beyond business. “Pets can help us shed light on the path to sustainability,” Calvo concludes.