I'm sure there are many investors who would rather forget Pets.com. The 1990s company has become the poster child of the lunacy of the dot-com era. Apparently, the only profitable product of Pets.com was the sock puppet.But I guess time heals wounds. That is, a private equity firm, LLR Partners, has plunked down $10 million in Pet Food Direct. Yep, this is an online pet retailer.
Actually, the company was started about ten years ago and has been tracking nicely. Besides having more than 11,000 products, there are also useful online guides on pet health/nutrition and an Auto-Ship program.
In fact, the pet industry is about $40 billion per year. So, there's definitely room for growth.
I still think it will take time to become a big player in the ecommerce space, though. I also think it's a good bet that Pet Food Direct isn't going to be spending big bucks on Super Bowl commercials.
To see more venture capital fundings, click here.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.
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