Draper Espirit sells portfolio company Tails.com

Venture capital firm has announced five disposals in the last 12 months

Draper Esprit, a venture capital firm investing in high-growth European digital technology businesses, has announced the sale of portfolio company Tails. com.

Draper has sold the direct-to-consumer, tailor-made dog nutrition business to Purina Petcare, which is a subsidiary of Nestlé SA.

The company has a long history with Tails.com, having backed its founder Graham Bosher, first at Lovefilm and then at Graze.

In a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange, Draper said the transaction was executed “at a value supportive of the net asset value as at March 31st and represents an attractive return”.

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Strong growth

Based in London, Tails.com provides personalised dog food and nutrition support, with a direct-to-consumer model that has demonstrated strong growth since launch in 2014.

Tails.com uses a proprietary technology platform and manufacturing set up to provide individually customised recipes and best in class service to delivery.

In the past 12 months, the group has announced five disposals, including the recent announcement by Oracle of their intent to buy Grapeshot, a Draper Esprit enterprise investment scheme, and the sale of Clavis Insight to Ascential in December 2017.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter