Starting point
The market for dog food and supplements is large but confusing. Many owners want to give their dog good products but find little guidance: unclear ingredient lists, interchangeable brands, little transparency. This is exactly where we saw an opportunity.
The idea
CANIFEL was meant to be a brand that does not claim quality but shows it. What sets it apart from everything else on the shelf: the products are developed by pharmacists. The driving force is Wolfgang Kempf, a pharmacist from Viernheim, who develops every formula to pharmaceutical standards before veterinarians review it. Add fully disclosed ingredients, independent lab testing and a presence that takes dog owners seriously.
The founding
Wachenberg Ventures brought CANIFEL to life: idea and business model, founding of Canifel Pet GmbH, financing, partners from pharmacy, veterinary medicine and production, and the team that leads the brand. Sales run through three channels: pharmacies, the brand's own D2C shop at canifel.de and Amazon. Brand building, product development and community are run operationally by CANIFEL itself.
How we work
CANIFEL is built iteratively and in an agile way. Products, prices, channels and campaigns are tested on a small scale, results are reviewed regularly and the course is adjusted: inspect and adapt. For almost every business process we first check whether AI can take it over, from bookkeeping and invoicing to shipping, content and customer service. This drastically increases efficiency and time to market and lets the small team focus on product and customers.
Where it stands today
CANIFEL is on the market, growing and being developed further by its own team. Wachenberg Ventures provides strategic support as a shareholder and remains a sparring partner for the next steps.