72. Grub Club: “Pets eat 20% of the world’s meat; we’re changing that” Grub Club is making pet food more sustainable by replacing meat and fish with insect protein. About the Startups 100 Now in its 17th year, the Startups 100 is the definitive list of the most promising new UK businesses. There's no fee for entry or for inclusion in our index. The Startups team of new business experts judge all our top 100 entrants in collaboration with specialist industry consultants. See our guide to this year’s hottest new businesses and most exceptional founders in the complete 2025 Startups 100 index. Founders: Alessandro Di Trapani and Hugh PetitYear founded: 2020Website: mygrubclub.comThe consumption of meat and fish is a significant contributor to CO2 emissions – and that applies to pets too. Pets gobble up around 20% of the world’s meat and fish, and the pet food industry produces over 100 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2eq) emissions every year. Shocked by these stats? So were Alessandro Di Trapani and Hugh Petit, enough in fact to embark on a journey to provide pets with superfood nutrition in a more sustainable way… Enter the creepy crawlies! Grub Club’s pet food replaces traditional sources of protein with insect protein. Insect farming requires a fraction of the land and water and produces significantly less CO2eq emissions than traditional livestock farming. While many pet snacks are currently made from this food source, Grub Club has made a meal of its mealworms by manufacturing dog food as well as just treats for a real market USP.Educating its customers about the benefits of insect protein is critical to Grub Club’s mission, so the startup has invested heavily in content to inform prospective customers about the benefits of the protein source. The brand has also partnered with vets who recommend its products to dogs with sensitivities or intolerances to their current food. “We save up to 1.5 tonnes of CO2eq emissions per dog per year compared to traditional meat-based dog food,” says Di Trapani. “We’re also a certified B Corp.”In 2023, Grub Club won the £1m Grand Prix of the 2023 Sky Zero Footprint Fund. The £1m in media value led the startup to make its TV advertising debut in 2024. We save up to 1.5 tonnes of CO2eq emissions per dog per year compared to traditional meat-based dog food. Di Trapani says Grub Club’s goal for the next five years is to become the “the obvious choice for pet owners.” With its innovative take on creating a more sustainable nutrition option for pampered pooches across the country, Grub Club is certainly one to watch for 2025. The 2025 Startups 100 List in Full 1 Lottie 2 Robin AI 3 Yonder 4 HIVED 5 Gaia 6 Runna 7 Quantum Dice 8 Hoxton Farms 9 MAGIC AI 10 Eolas Medical 11 DRIFT Energy 12 Audiomob 13 Lindus Health 14 FYLD 15 Zero Gravity 16 Vikela 17 ToffeeX 18 Bio&Me 19 Strolll 20 Triple Technologies 21 UNDO Carbon 22 KOMI 23 Untap 24 Novai 25 Omni Pet 26 Sona 27 Fin Sustainable Logistics 28 trumpet 29 Swiipr Technologies 30 Cerbos 31 By Rotation 32 Open Climate Fix 33 Howbout 34 cheqd 35 Seep 36 Oort Energy 37 Walking on Earth 38 Flexa 39 HutanBio 40 Primer 41 Black Seed Ventures 42 Sharesy 43 Made With Intent 44 Userled 45 Zeti 46 Luna Daily 47 Deploy Tech 48 PulpaTronics 49 Metris Energy 50 VoltShare 51 NOQ Group 52 Hormona 53 Unify AI 54 The Seam 55 Siloton 56 SURREAL 57 Valarian Technologies 58 Papaya Technologies 59 PEEQUAL 60 PlantSea 61 Bloom Money 62 Tonic Health 63 Stored. 64 Cult Mia 65 Atlantic Money 66 facia.ai 67 RideTandem 68 Monk 69 STOCKED 70 IMPOSSIBREW 71 Mindgard 72 Grub Club Pets 73 Financielle 74 Outverse 75 Automated Architecture 76 Freja 77 Purple Transform 78 Lumi 79 Storekit 80 Unfabled 81 Asan Wellness 82 Mach42 83 seedata.io 84 Peachies 85 Nugget Savings 86 Enbiosis Biotechnology 87 Swoperz 88 growze 89 ekko 90 Tunic Pay 91 SKIN 92 Cashblack 93 TaskHer 94 XR Therapeutics 95 Alyve 96 UJJI AI 97 Volunteero 98 SuperFi 99 PharmAppy 100 Cogs AI See more Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Tags 2025