Lil Luv Dog, clean luxury for pets

Los Angeles lifestyle figures Cara Santana Leto and Stephanie Suganami are launching a premium pet care brand inspired by beauty and wellness rituals. Their first product: a plant-based powder dry shampoo available in two versions — Oat & Honey, or Cactus Flower — offered in a compostable bamboo shaker ($36, approx. €31) or a travel-size water-soluble pouch ($25, approx. €21.50). Free from sulfates, parabens, dyes, and synthetic fragrances, it combines aesthetics, sustainability, and practicality.

Lil Luv Dog is the first brand certified under EWG Verified^®: Pet Grooming, a new label from the Environmental Working Group that guarantees transparency, health safety, and environmental responsibility, addressing a major gap in an underregulated sector. The brand is also Leaping Bunny cruelty-free certified.

The pet care market is booming: Morgan Stanley forecasts 7% annual growth through 2030. Already backed by $1 million in funding — from Ani VC, Halogen Ventures, Twenty Two Ventures, Daniel Rotman (founder of PrettyLitter), and Steve Ball (former CEO of Zesty Paws) — Lil Luv Dog aims to ride this momentum. Next step: launching around ten new products within a year to establish itself as the chic, responsible lifestyle brand for pet wellness.