Spanish startup Barkibu has raised $5 million in a funding round led by Kfund, as the company experiences strong growth with a 20% average monthly increase in sales. The company, which offers pet health insurance and preventive coverage, covers 80% of costs associated with illnesses and accidents, and 100% of the costs associated with prevention, such as vaccinations or annual check-ups.
Barkibu's growth is mostly organic and user-led, with the majority of sales coming from clients bringing in other clients. The company has a presence in both Spain and Germany, with Spain accounting for 67% of its business and Germany making up the remaining 33%.
In addition to its pet health insurance offering, Barkibu has built an app that helps pet parents take care of their pet’s health. The app includes a calendar that reminds clients of their pets’ vaccination and deworming key dates, a telehealth service that enables clients to chat, call, or email Barkibu vets for advice on topics such as illnesses, nutrition, or education around different aspects of their pet’s wellness, and an AI-based veterinary service that is currently serving thousands of consultations a month.
Barkibu is also focused on efficient operations built on top of pet health data. The company receives tens of thousands of pet health documents each month, which contain unstructured pet health data. Barkibu is converting this unstructured data into structured data that allows the company to build a number of tools to increase claim management efficiency and intelligence. Barkibu believes that most pet-health related problems will soon be solved by automated consumer experiences built on top of structured pet-health data.
The company is led by experienced operators, including co-founder & co-CEO Álvaro Gutierrez, who built and sold pet-care chain Kiwoko (150 pet-care stores, 50 vet clinics), co-founder & co-CEO Pablo Pazos, who built ReallyLateBooking and sold it to eDreams, and co-founder María González, who previously worked at Moody’s, JP Morgan, World Bank, Google and Coverwallet. The team consists of 55 fully remote employees, including two other co-founders, VP of Data Quique Torres and Product Manager Patricia Seoane.
The estimated market size for pet health insurance in Spain is €100 million in 2023, according to Ken Research estimates. The Spain Pet Insurance Market is forecasted to grow further into a €150 million opportunity by 2027. Meanwhile, Barkibu estimates that the market size for pet health insurance in Germany will be €300 million in 2023.
"We are thrilled to have Kfund as our partner as we continue to grow and innovate in the pet health insurance space," said Álvaro Gutierrez, co-founder & co-CEO of Barkibu. "Our mission is to help pet parents take care of their furry family members, and this funding will allow us to continue to improve and expand our offerings."
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