Drizzle on Top: Premium Dog Food Brand Targets the 1%

The premium pet food market has become a fiercely competitive space, so Hillary Coles was understandably skeptical when Atomic Labs first approached her with a new idea. “I had the same reaction you did,” Coles said during a call Monday afternoon, just a day before her new venture, Golden Child, officially launched. “Surely that can’t be what people need.”

Coles, who co-founded Hims & Hers in 2016 alongside Andrew Dudum, Jack Abraham, and Joe Spector, spent seven years shaping the brand’s consumer strategy and product development. After taking 18 months off to raise her children, she returned to the startup world,but dog food was never part of the plan. “I’m a consumer person first,” she explained, noting that her previous work in healthcare felt like a natural detour, not a permanent lane. Pet food, she admitted, wasn’t “on the bingo card.”

What ultimately convinced her wasn’t the category itself but the method behind it. Atomic Labs, the startup studio founded by Abraham, uses what it calls “painted door tests” ,lightweight experiments that measure real consumer behavior, not just stated preferences. When Atomic ran those tests in the pet food space, the demand was undeniable. The team then analyzed 11,000 reviews of existing fresh dog food products, uncovering persistent frustrations: inconvenience, dogs getting sick, and food that felt like a chore. “We started to peel the onion,” Coles said.

Coles and her co-founder, Quentin Lacornerie, argue that the pet food industry has barely innovated in over a decade. That claim might raise eyebrows given the explosion of premium and human-grade options, but they point to those 11,000 reviews as evidence that even as pet owners’ expectations evolve, the products haven’t kept pace. Lacornerie, who helped build Hims & Hers and led its personalized growth strategy, sees clear parallels to that company’s early days. “Wellness has eclipsed Big Pharma by 4x in market cap,” he noted. Pet parents who take collagen for joint health, scrutinize ingredient labels, and track their own nutrition now demand the same rigor for their dogs.

Golden Child is launching with two direct-to-consumer products: a fresh frozen meal system and, more notably, a “drizzle” ,a shelf-stable liquid topper that can be added to any dog food, whether it’s Golden Child’s own recipes, kibble, or something else. The drizzle retails for $19.95 per bottle, while the meal system starts at $3 per day, primarily on a subscription model. A starter box is available for those who want to test the waters.

The drizzle is the more innovative product and likely carries higher margins. When asked if the company considered focusing exclusively on that item, Coles replied, “Like all entrepreneurs, we have a lot of opportunities to build out worlds. This is just the first inning.”

The food is produced in the U. S. across multiple facilities using human-grade supply chains ,a logistical challenge that Lacornerie says is harder than it sounds. The recipes were developed by a PhD in animal nutrition, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (one of only about 80 in the country), and a classically trained chef with ties to Ina Garten and Guy Fieri. Golden Child also created a “protein block” that delivers chicken and beef with an enhanced amino acid profile beyond what standard meat cuts provide, according to Coles.

The company is emerging from stealth with $37 million in total funding ,a seed round and a Series A led by Redpoint Ventures, with participation from Atomic and A-Star. That’s a significant sum for a dog food startup, but Lacornerie insists that doing it right requires real expertise, not shortcuts. The company’s 12 employees include the nutritionists and chef on staff, not just as advisors.

The “Golden Child” brand name is intentionally broad. When asked whether the company might eventually expand into shampoos, travel gear, or even veterinary access,given the bureaucratic hurdles of getting medication for a dog,Coles didn’t rule it out. “There’s a lot of interest and excitement from pet parents to involve their dogs in all aspects of their life,” she said. The long-term goal is to become a household brand, not just a pet food company.

Atomic Labs has a mixed track record. Hims & Hers, now a decade old, is publicly traded with a market cap near $7 billion. But OpenStore, the e-commerce roll-up founded in 2021 by Abraham and venture investor Keith Rabois, tells a different story: after raising over $150 million in venture funding and generating splashy headlines, it recently shut down.