Pet ownership and pet expenditure has skyrocketed in recent years, Forbes found 78% of pet owners acquired a pet during the pandemic and Americans spent $136.8 billion on their pets in 2022, up nearly 11% from 2021.  We now treat pets as humans: between marketplaces, wide ranges of services, specific healthcare, pets are now insured and can even have a vegan diet just like their owners. This phenomena will only increase with younger generations, a recent study found 7 in 10 Gen Z would rather have a pet than a child.  Many of these businesses are very VC backable, the third biggest round in food in 2023 was for Butternut box - pet food company.