There’s something that resonates about a company named Other Half going all in. While most startups are trying to dress up filler as function, these two brought lab coats to a dog park and walked out with a $3 million seed round like it was just another Tuesday.
AJ Patel doesn’t miss. After building and exiting Zesty Paws for a tidy $610 million and stacking plays with InstaNatural, Zenwise, and HighKey, he could’ve just sat back and surfed exit waves. Instead, he teamed up with Mike Watts, a quiet killer in consumer packaged goods who’s spent 15+ years shaping food brands from Against the Grain to Grillo’s Pickles. Together, they launched Other Half in November 2024 with one goal: turn the $2.1 billion pet supplement industry into something worthy of your dog’s loyalty, and your vet’s approval.
And they’re not coming at it with treats and charm. They’re coming with science. Human-grade, powder-based, clinically validated formulas. No chewables full of air and adjectives. Just QR-code transparency and results that show up in lab reports, not just Amazon stars. Though, speaking of stars, 4,000+ subscribers and 400+ five-star reviews say the tail wags for a reason.
Doggie Dental™ isn’t just a clever name. It’s got proprietary COHP tech that took a walk through three placebo-controlled trials and came out with numbers like a 98% disruption of oral biofilms. Everyday™ didn’t just launch, it landed top 15 in Amazon’s dog multivitamin category with the same precision that Watts used scaling legacy brands. This isn’t cute wellness marketing. It’s targeted performance for a new generation of pet parents who treat ingredients like they treat invoices: no surprises, and always accounted for.
Willow Growth Partners led the charge, backed by Habitat Ventures and Off Leash Capital. Smart money chasing smarter formulation. The funds will build the bench, product development, marketing, and a direct-to-consumer flywheel primed for velocity across Amazon and beyond.
Call it instinct, call it vision, but Other Half isn’t chasing trends. They’re building the foundation for clinical-grade pet wellness with millennial precision and Gen Z scrutiny. This round isn’t just capital, it’s a signal. The other guys can keep using “natural flavor.” These two are turning Oggie’s story into an industry standard.
AJ Patel and Mike Watts didn’t just create a brand. They answered a need we didn’t realize was underserved. And in doing so, they reminded us, when the product is real, the rest follows.
