Bengaluru-based pet food food company Drools has officially become a unicorn (a startup valued at $1 billion or more). This happened after Nestle, a famous Swiss company, bought a small part of Drools. With this deal, Drools becomes the fourth Indian startup in 2025 to reach unicorn status, after Netradyne, Porter and JSW One Platforms.
Nestle’s confirmed the investment but said Drools will still make its own decisions and stay independent. Nestle did not share how much money was involved in the deal. The main goal is to support Drools financially while keeping its original team and strategy.
Drools is now the fourth company in India to become a unicorn this year. The first was deeptech startup Netradyne in January, followed by Juspay in April and logistics firm Porter in May.
India’s pet care industry is growing quickly. More people, especially young ones in cities, are keeping pets and spending money on their food, grooming and health. This trend is rising due to higher incomes, smaller families and more people seeing pets as part of the family.
The industry is growing at more than 20% each year and is expected to be worth over $1.15 billion by 2026.
Drools started in 2010 and is now one of the biggest Indian pet food brands. It got support from a company called L Catterton, which is connected to luxury group LVMH. In 2023, Drools received $60 million to improve its production and distribution.
Drools competes with large international companies like Mars PetCare and Indian brands like Heads Up for Tails.
Nestle is known worldwide for its pet food brand Purina, but it has not had a big role in India’s pet market until now. By investing in Drools, Nestle can enter the Indian market without changing how it runs its global operations.
This deal also gives Drools a chance to learn from Nestle’s experience and global business methods.
Nestle is not the only company interested in India’s growing pet care sector. Godrej Consumer Products has also started working in this field. Experts say that what used to be a small and niche market is now becoming a popular and mainstream business area.
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