ITV invests up to £4m in pet food and monitoring firm PitPat in broadcaster’s latest ‘media for equity’ deal
- ITV’s ‘media for equity’ investment fund has also put money behind what3words
- PitPat’s products allow dog owners to monitor the calorie intake of their pets
A Cambridge-based pet health firm will become the second business this year to hand over an equity stake to broadcaster ITV in exchange for advertising.
ITV’s ‘media for equity’ investment fund, Adventures Invest, will subscribe for £3million of PitPat shares, with an option for a further £1million.
In exchange, the company will advertise its products and services across the broadcasting giant’s channels and on-demand subscription service ITVX.
Deal: Dog products firm PitPat will receive investment from ITV in return for free advertising across the broadcasting giant’s channels and on-demand subscription service ITVX
PitPat’s products include collar-worn trackers and activity monitors that help dog owners track the calorie intake, movements and location of their pets without needing a subscription.
ITV said the arrangement would enable PitPat to ‘build mass market brand awareness by bringing the brand to millions of viewers.’
Andy Nowell, PitPat’s founder and CEO, said ITV’s ‘extensive viewership and strategic media expertise’ will enable the firm ‘to reach a nation of dog lovers and drive significant category awareness, cementing PitPat as the go-to brand for pet parents.’
Sheena Amin, director of ITV AdVentures, added: ‘PitPat is at an important inflection point in its scaling journey, having created a market-leading product for both dog activity monitors and GPS trackers.
‘We know that ITV viewers index highly as pet owners, and I’m confident that we can help drive category awareness for pet GPS trackers and put PitPat on the map at the same time.’
ITV made a similar deal in March with architectural technology firm Resi, subscribing to £1million of convertible loan notes in the group, together with an option for an additional two tranches worth £1million each.
The company’s first-ever media for equity deal came two years ago with a £2million investment in What3words, the pioneering app that converts GPS coordinates into three-word codes.
Since then, Adventures Invest has struck tie-ups with nutritional supplements startup Feel, the utility price service Ismybillfair.com, menswear brands Spoke, and online car marketplace Carwow.
Channel 4’s media for equity fund has also invested in Carwow and What3words, as well as social media service Pinterest and crowdfunding platform Crowdcube.
ITV shares were flat at 74.6p on late Tuesday afternoon and have slumped by around 42 per cent over the past two years amid a more challenging economic backdrop.
Earlier this month, the FTSE 100 group revealed advertising revenues declined by 10 per cent year-on-year in the opening three months of 2023, while total turnover fell faster than expected.
However, its chief executive Carolyn McCall said the company was ‘looking forward’ to the third quarter when it expects the next series of Love Island and the Rugby World Cup to draw large audiences.
