Unlocking Longer Lives for Our Dogs: The Revolutionary Startup Making It Happen

The Unfair Reality of Dog Lifespan

There are many unfair certainties in life, but chief among them is that we can’t spend as many years with our dogs as we’d like.

The average lifespan for a dog is 10-13 years, depending on its size, and that’s clearly too damn short. That’s where Loyal comes in: The canine longevity startup just closed a $22m fundraising round, bringing its total investments to $150m+.

Innovations in Dog Longevity

• Loyal’s first product, LOY-002, is a daily tablet for dogs aged 10+ and weighing 14+ pounds.
• These pills target metabolic dysfunction, a key underlying cause of aging, to reduce the chance and severity of age-associated diseases.
• LOY-002 has just cleared the FDA’s “reasonable expectation of effectiveness” requirement, moving the company closer to approval.

Teaching old dogs new tricks isn’t Loyal’s only goal: the startup is also developing LOY-001 and LOY-003, a long-acting injectable and a daily pill for larger dog breeds.

Revenue Streams and Market Potential

Once FDA-approved, Loyal’s revenue would come from veterinarians writing prescriptions for its products.

The Growing Pet Health Industry

Since American consumers spent an estimated $150.6B on their pets in 2024, other pet health startups are also seeking to make a profit:

• Embark, a DNA testing company for dogs, has raised ~$94m to assess health risks and has released a line of supplements.
• German startup Mammaly focuses on longevity products that promote cell renewal.
• A growing group of startups are promising to keep pets healthier through customized, human-grade food.

A Broader Impact

Interestingly, learning how to extend the lives of our beloved dogs might also help us live longer. Loyal’s CEO, Celine Halioua, mentioned that since humans and dogs share environmental factors — and sometimes even the same diet — their aging diseases can be similar.

To be clear: We only want to be immortal if our good boys and girls can be, too.