Lyka Pet Food Raises $67 Million to Fuel Fresh Dog Food Expansion

From One Dog's Dinner to $200 Million a Year

There's a particular kind of founding story that resonates with dog owners: the one where somebody looks at what's available, decides it's not good enough for their dog, and does something about it.

That's more or less how Lyka started. In 2018, Anna Podolsky — a former management consultant at Bain & Company — was struggling to find food that worked for her Border Collie cross, Lyka, who was dealing with several health issues. When she started home-cooking meals, the results were dramatic. Improved energy, a better coat, and even reversal of tooth decay.

She teamed up with integrative veterinarian Dr Matthew Muir, and the pair launched what would become one of Australia's most ambitious pet food startups. The company is named after the dog that started it all.

Seven years later, Lyka has just closed a $67 million Series C round — one of the largest funding raises in Australian pet industry history. The round was led by LGVP, a New York-based venture capital fund headed by Israeli entrepreneur Itai Tsiddon, who has backed Lyka since its $30 million Series B in 2022.

Total funding now sits at $155 million. Other investors on the cap table include AfterWork Ventures, StepStone, Wattle Hill Capital, and Point King Capital, alongside strategic angel investors Craig Blair (Airtree partner and Pet Circle director) and Paul Wilson (founder of Petbarn).

How Lyka Works

Lyka operates as a direct-to-consumer subscription service — essentially a Hello Fresh model for dogs. You enter your dog's breed, weight, age, activity level, and any sensitivities, and Lyka builds a customised meal plan with portion-controlled servings delivered fresh to your door.

Meals are made from human-grade ingredients: think grass-fed beef and lamb bowls, free-range chicken with quinoa and spinach, and similar whole-food recipes. They're lightly cooked to retain nutrients and arrive frozen, with no preservatives needed.

Pricing varies depending on your dog's size and how much of their diet you want to replace. For a small dog, expect to pay somewhere between $28 and $50 per week. It's not the cheapest way to feed a dog — but that's kind of the point.

The company now serves more than 100,000 active dogs across Australia and reports around $200 million in annual recurring revenue. That's a remarkable number for a business that started with $500,000 in pre-seed funding in late 2019.

The $16 Million Factory

Behind the subscription model is serious manufacturing infrastructure. In 2024, Lyka opened a $16 million flagship production facility and national distribution centre in Dandenong South, Victoria. The facility uses automated production lines described as the first of their kind in Australia and has quadrupled the company's distribution capacity.

The Dandenong operation sits alongside existing kitchens in Sydney, where the business is headquartered. By sourcing many of its ingredients from Victorian suppliers, the facility also feeds millions of dollars into the state's agricultural supply chain and has created more than 100 local jobs.

More Than a Food Company

Podolsky has been clear that she sees Lyka as a technology-enabled wellness business, not just a pet food brand. The company controls the full vertical — recipe design, manufacturing, distribution, and the customer-facing platform — and uses data from its subscriber base to personalise dietary profiles for individual dogs.

That data-driven approach extends into research. Lyka is funding peer-reviewed clinical trials with the University of Sydney, the University of Queensland, and Massey University in New Zealand. The studies are focused on canine metabolic health and biomarkers associated with longer life — essentially investigating whether diet can measurably extend how long dogs live.

It's an ambitious bet, and one that aligns with a broader trend in the global pet industry: the growing overlap between pet care and human health science.

Lyka also holds B Corp Certification and claims carbon-negative status, positioning itself as a sustainability-forward brand in a category that's increasingly conscious of its environmental footprint.

The Ad That Got Banned

If you've heard of Lyka but can't quite place why, there's a decent chance it's because of the ad.

In 2025, the company released a mock-horror commercial titled The Brutal Pick Up, built around the tagline "Real food makes your dog's poo less horrific." The 90-second spot depicted a dog walk gone wrong in spectacularly graphic fashion. It was banned from Netflix after viewer complaints, with people describing it as one of the most disgusting ads they'd ever seen.

It was also wildly effective at getting people talking. The controversy earned Lyka widespread media coverage and cemented the brand's reputation for marketing that doesn't play it safe.

What's Next for Lyka Pet Food?

The $67 million raise will be used to fund three key priorities: expanding into new product categories beyond fresh meals, scaling clinical research into canine health and longevity, and laying the groundwork for international expansion.

Australia remains the primary market for now, but the company has flagged overseas growth as a longer-term goal. International expansion in the fresh pet food space is capital-intensive — refrigerated manufacturing and cold-chain distribution don't scale as easily as dry kibble — so any move offshore would likely require localised production or supply chain partnerships.

For Australian dog owners, the more immediate impact will be new products and more data-backed nutritional insights. In a market where pet food regulation remains entirely voluntary and ingredient transparency is patchy at best, a well-funded brand investing in clinical research and full vertical control is a noteworthy development.

The Bigger Picture

Lyka's raise comes at a time of significant activity in the Australian pet food industry. The market is worth an estimated $3.9 billion and growing at around 5% annually. Premiumisation — the trend toward higher-quality, more transparent, and more expensive products — is the dominant force shaping the category.

Meanwhile, the lack of mandatory pet food regulation in Australia continues to draw criticism from the RSPCA, the Australian Veterinary Association, and consumer advocates. South Australia is currently progressing a bill that would be the country's first legally enforceable pet food labelling law.

In that context, a homegrown brand with $155 million in backing, a clinical research program, and a manufacturing base in Victoria represents one possible future for the Australian pet food industry — one where the market itself, rather than regulation, drives higher standards.

Whether you're a Lyka subscriber or you've never heard of them before today, the trajectory is worth watching.