A short puppy-eyed look at Heads Up For Tails

What is this D2C pet care brand that’s got all the attention?

“Fine, I’ll do it myself,” says supervillain Thanos during the end credits of Avengers: Age of Ultron. When his lackeys couldn’t get hands of the all-powerful Infinity Stones for him, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Rashi Narang did something similar when she founded ‘Heads Up For Tails’ or HUFT in 2008. No, she did not find a company to wipe half of the universe’s population. She instead founded an online pet supplies brand when she could not find anything special for her pet Labrador Sara’s first birthday in stores.

Today in 2021, HUFT is one of India’s leading premium online pet supplies stores. From food to toys to bedding to grooming, you name it and you will find it here.

It’s a force to reckon today. Only this year, we reported former Netflix chief marketer Swati Mohan join HUFT as chief business officer and Bombay Shaving Company’s marketing head Samriddh Dasgupta joins Heads Up for Tails as CMO.

But, the start wasn’t easy. Narang faced rejections from countless tailors who refused to stitch for animals and from pet stores that refused to stock her self-made designs.

But, she persevered.

A kiosk at Delhi’s Select CITYWALK gave the brand the push it just needed whilst it was operational with a website and not much fanfare.

Narang, in 2009, had to move to Singapore with her husband. She managed to keep the brand up and running from abroad but by the time she returned, there were several brands in the pet care industry.

She returned with funding from Singapore (not investors but individuals she knew) and the money was used to accelerate the business. She once again picked funding from high-net individuals in Singapore in 2017 as per Mint.

And as per The Economic Times, in 2021, HUFT raised Rs 277 crore in a Series A funding round led by Verlinvest and Sequoia Capital India. Amitell Capital and existing investor W&C PetTech also participated in the fundraising.

The brand, today, has 35+ stores in over nine cities.