Today’s pet startup story is nothing short of remarkable. From creating homemade pet food recipes in one home kitchen in Lebanon, to crafting a VC-backed multinational subscription meal service, PawPots has continuously grown and thrived since its launch in 2018. And given that the Middle East & Africa (MENA) pet food market is valued at about USD 6.12 billion in 2026 and is forecast to reach USD 8.24 billion by 2033, PawPots is well-positioned to dominate the fresh pet food market.
We sat down with the co-founder and CEO of PawPots, Jad Karam, to learn more about their story.
A dog called Stark
As is often the case, pet entrepreneurship wasn’t the first calling for co-founders Jad Karam (CEO) and Jimmy El-Hajj (COO). In fact, they were deep in another project when Jad adopted a family dog—a joyful golden retriever called Stark.
Stark quickly became a member of the family, which made Jad reconsider his fuel.
So Jad started cooking for his dog with leftover ingredients from home. Stark absolutely loved the fresh food Jad was serving.
However, there was a problem. It’s all good and well if your dog loves home-cooked meals, but who has the time to do that on top of all of your other responsibilities? In more mature pet markets, such as the US and the UK, fresh pet food companies have been growing rapidly.
In Lebanon? No such luck.
Jad realised this quickly, saying, “I could not do this every day. There had to be something efficient, nutritious and convenient. But it didn’t exist here. That’s how the idea for PawPots started”.
After Jad made a compelling case to co-founder Jimmy El-Hajj, the pair turned their attention away from their other business and doubled down on PawPots. That meant working with vet nutritionists to create a repeatable menu and standardise their process.
Officially launching in April 2018, the reception and demand from customers in Lebanon far exceeded anyone’s expectations.
PawPots is unleashed
It only took 3 to 4 months before PawPots was overwhelmed with orders. Customers told their friends. Requests for new recipes were flying in. The feedback, iterate and launch cycle was well and truly locked in.
And while it’s every pet startup founder’s dream to become a runaway success, there were real constraints on running a subscription meal service from a regular kitchen.
Jad said, “The attraction and feedback from the customers were increasing. I had to buy another fridge and put it in the corner of the kitchen because both fridges were overloaded”.
Though bootstrapping had served PawPots well so far, it was time to scale.
The first investment and support will be no surprise to you; what Jad calls the 3Fs—Family, Friends and Fools.
The founders took part in the Speed Accelerator in September 2018. This accelerator focuses on championing tech startups in the MENA region and gave PawPots a boost in visibility and connections.
A few short years later, PawPots joined the Unleashed by Purina programme to catapult them into the next phase.
When I asked Jad about why he decided to join the Unleashed by Purina accelerator, he said, “We met the team and saw how friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable they were. They were seeking to help, to support and to build a stronger ecosystem in the pet care industry”.
As part of the Class of 2022, Jad and Jimmy worked with the Unleashed by Purina champs to define their scaling strategy and open their UAE branch. Today, PawPots successfully operates in two countries with 30 plus employees and around 3,000 paid subscribers.
At this point, you may be wondering how or why PawPots seem to have had such a smooth ride when building such a niche product in a relatively small market.
Well, there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
Meteoric growth weathered by crisis
In some ways, building a pet food startup in the MENA region is ideal. It’s an underpenetrated market with huge purchasing power and room for growth.
The Middle East & Africa (MENA) pet food market is valued at about USD 5.63 billion in 2024 and is forecast to reach USD 8.24 billion by 2033 (CAGR ~4.3%).
While dog food dominates the segment at 55.8% in 2024, cat food seems to be the fastest-growing.
The region’s main player, the UAE, has had a sharp increase in small dogs and cats, which is shaping the purchasing decisions of pet parents.
When expanding across a region, pet startups often need to adapt to the requirements of local customers, but PawPots has been fortunately successful with a more singular marketing strategy.
Jad said, “The cat population in the UAE is higher than in Lebanon. The purchasing power is also higher in the UAE. But other than that, we have almost the same service, same systems, same marketing and same activities”.
This works, according to the PawPots CEO, because at their core, all pet parents want the same thing.
“[All pet parents] are looking to care for their pet, whether it's in Lebanon or in the UAE, big dog or small dog, single or with the family, all pet parents just want the best for their pet”, he told me.
That said, Lebanon was going through one of the worst crises in its history when this small yet mighty online pet food subscription service was launched. Like many homegrown Lebanese businesses, PawPots was not immune to the reduced purchasing power and economic turmoil of the population.
“In the beginning, others were sceptical. They said, ‘We’re in this terrible economic situation in Lebanon, you're looking to feed the dogs?’ But we believe that pets are family members. Family members deserve the minimum, and the minimum is to feed them good nutrition”.
In practice, this meant adapting certain recipes to be more value per pound, and integrating innovative pricing strategies to suit the customer—something that was less relevant when expanding into the UAE.
As many nations go through economic and political changes, PawPots is a great example of how pet startups can prevail with strategic pivots.
What’s next for PawPots?
In 2025, PawPots secured funding with MENA-based consumer venture capital firm, Homegrown Ventures. Jad attributes this success to strong conviction and visible success.
He said, “If you are doing something right and you are ready, [fundraising] will come to you at the right moment. This is what happened with us and Homegrown Ventures”.
After a successful 2025 and a new injection of VC cash, we were curious to know what the future holds for PawPots.
“We're launching some exciting new products very soon. We've been working on some innovative, functional treats for dogs and soon for cats”, said Jad.
The CEO also discussed further expansion in the Middle East in the not-too-distant future. This could be an excellent opportunity, as Saudi Arabia has the fastest-growing pet food market, followed by Egypt. Jad mentioned that expanding into Europe is also potentially on the cards.
And his parting words to pet startup founders looking to build a brand that lasts?
“My advice is, don't listen to everyone's opinion. Get ideas and expand your horizon, but know how to filter and have your own strong convictions. That’s the only way you’ll build a successful startup”.
We at Unleashed by Purina are glad that Jad Karam and Jimmy El-Hajj had the conviction to pioneer their vision, and we can’t wait to see what PawPots does next.
Written by Olivia De Santos, Pet Tech Writer @ Unleashed by Purina.