Dogfy Diet wins Best Start-Up of 2023 Award from Esade Alumni and Banco Sabadell BStartup

The company Dogfy Diet, a pioneering producer of natural dog food, received the Best Start-up of 2023 Award from Esade Alumni and Banco Sabadell BStartup during the Esade Alumni Start-Up Day. Founded by the former Esade student, Sergi Font, together with Josep Font and Gonzalo Noy, this company creates customized recipes for pets based on the individual traits of each animal.

The main factor why Dogfy Diet won this award is the firm’s international outlook since its inception. With a mindset extending beyond the Spanish market, the company has made successful inroads into other European markets and grown exponentially in a short space of time whilst consolidating itself as a benchmark in the pet food industry.

“Dogfy Diet was established with a very clear aim: to revolutionize the pet food market by changing how we feed our pets. This award is a significant acknowledgement of the considerable growth we’ve achieved over the last four years, both in Spain and abroad, and our consolidation of our position as leaders in natural dog food. So, we’d like to say thank you to the almost 300 employees who contribute to this revolution every day,” said Gonzalo Noy, CEO and co-founder of Dogfy Diet.

Fernando Zallo, director of the Esade BAN business angel network, highlighted that “Dogfy Diet took part in an Esade BAN investment forum when it had some fifty subscribers, and managed to close a round of finance with a family office belonging to our network that trusted this young team with a well-defined outlook. This investment marked the start of the company’s considerable growth in recent years.”

Eduardo Currás, deputy general director of Banco Sabadell and head of Business Banking, praised the advancements achieved by Dogfy Diet and emphasized that “in just four years, the company has expanded and now has a staff of 300 and a production plant of 10,000 m2. It’s ready for on-going growth and has huge global ambition. Dogfy Diet already operates in Spain, France and Italy and will soon start in Germany and Portugal. In addition, the company exemplifies the spirit of the 'Best Start-up of the Year Award' held by Esade Alumni and BStartup Banco Sabadell and now in its 10th year, as is BStartup, Spain’s pioneering financial service for start-ups and scale-ups.” Winners of this award in previous years include such outstanding companies as Wuaki.tv, Visualnet, Kantox, Wallapop, Red Points, Signaturit, Glovo, Exoticca, Psious (now Amelia Virtual Care), Colvin and Cavli Wireless.

Transforming an industry through digitalization and sustainability 

José Manuel Villanueva, co-founder of Privalia and 011h and former Esade student, opened Esade Alumni Start-Up Day with a talk in which he gave an overview of his personal and professional career from when he started working in the strategic consulting sector up until his latest entrepreneurial venture. “In 2006, I set up Privalia with Lucas Carné. This project is very close to my heart: it was not only outstanding in terms of personal and life factors, it was also extremely successful. On the contrary, 011h is more of a rational project that makes an impact.”

After outlining the history of Privalia, the on-line fashion outlet, he focused on the aims of his latest project, 011h, a tech company dedicated to construction with a staff of 80 in Barcelona. “Construction is a huge sector of the economy that’s barely industrialized or digitalized. It’s also one of the industries that generates the most CO2 emissions.” In this respect, Villanueva explained that “the value proposition of 011h is to transform the construction industry in four respects: reduce CO2 emissions by recycling materials, reduce the time employed, increase reliability and industrialize the sector.” “We’ve raised investment of €35 million that we aim to use to create a ‘neo construction company’ that is a global benchmark,” he declared.

Enterprise in the world of sport and the importance of finance

The founders of the sports-related start-ups Playtomic, Endless, Deporvillage and Oliver highlighted the essential role of technology in their sector, the importance of achieving a profitable business, the need to focus on certain high-growth sports such as paddle tennis and cycling, and the need to democratize other sports, such as football.

The Chief Financial Officers (CFO) of Delvy Law & Finance, Heura, Vicio and Flax & Kale and the director of BStartup10 at Banco Sabadell, then discussed the transformation of finance into successful start-ups, plus the adaptability so necessary for CFOs and their ability to “focus on processes”. Several start-ups that have received investment from Esade BAN also took part in the event: RobinGood, Pummba, LoveTV Channels, HelloApp, The Residential Club, Wefeel and April Plants.