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Zooplus

eCommerce & Marketplaces · Munich, Germany · Founded 1999 · IPO 2008

Zooplus SE is a European online retailer of pet food and supplies headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company was founded on June 28, 1999, by Roland Honekamp, Cornelius Patt, Sven Rittau, Florian Seubert, and Philipp Freiherr von Wilmowsky, with financial backing from Hubert Burda Media. The company aimed to serve the growing online market for pet supplies that emerged in the late 1990s. Zooplus operates on a direct-to-consumer e-commerce model, offering an extensive range of approximately 15,000 products for various pets. Its product line includes pet food, accessories, and private-label brands such as "Wolf of Wilderness", "Smilla", and "Purizon". The business model relies on a third-party logistics (3PL) framework, meaning Zooplus does not physically handle the products; instead, it manages the flow from supplier to customer through fulfillment centers and delivery services. This approach allows for scalability and flexibility. The company serves customers in 30 European countries and has established itself as a major player in the online pet supply market. In 2023, the company generated €2.678 billion in revenue. Recently, Zooplus introduced a subscription service in Germany and Austria, allowing customers to schedule automatic, recurring deliveries of pet supplies. The company went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on May 9, 2008. For many years, it was a component of the SDAX stock market index. The COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted Zooplus, as increased online shopping led to a profit of around €7.8 million in the first half of 2020. In late 2021, after a bidding war involving several investment firms, private equity companies Hellman & Friedman and EQT jointly acquired Zooplus. This led to the company's delisting from the stock exchange in January 2022. Keywords: pet supplies, e-commerce, online retail, pet food, pet accessories, European market, direct-to-consumer, private label pet products, pet nutrition, animal care, online pet store, subscription service, third-party logistics, dog food, cat food, pet care products, digital pet platform, animal supplies, Germany, Munich-based