Ecommerce
December 9, 2024

Clearco Refinances Ampla for DIGGS: A DTC Luxury Pet Brand’s Journey from Founding to Funding

Author
Kristen Campbell

Zel Crampton is a Canadian entrepreneur and the founder of DIGGS, a premium pet lifestyle brand known for its award-winning crates and utility designs. The idea of a pet company was appealing to Zel, who had always been an animal lover. He began thinking about running a pet-related business after speaking with a friend who owned one. It took a move to New York for his MBA, two previous companies, and several years at McKinsey before the idea for DIGGS would emerge. Later, as DIGGS  scaled, it faced the need for financial support - and that’s where Clearco’s ecommerce funding solution came in.

Founding DIGGS: Introducing premium pet lifestyle to the market

As an engineering graduate from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, Zel has long understood the mechanics of tinkering with a product to get it just right. He later joined Deloitte, where he combined his knack for “tinkering” with global supply chain consulting, sourcing, manufacturing, and procurement. 

“In 2016, I had an aha! moment,” he explains. “When I adopted my dog Louise, I was looking for premium pet products for her including toys, and I was utterly disappointed by the lack of safe and high-quality pet products on the market. There was nothing in the pets category similar to the standards that companies like UPPAbaby, YETI, and SimpleHuman make in their respective categories.” Upon discovering the absence of established pet safety standards in the U.S., he was inspired to take action, launching DIGGS in 2018 to give pet parents better options. “While my friends were buying homes and having kids, and I was being exposed to luxury home or baby products, I thought, ‘we need this in the pet space.’”

From the inception of DIGGS, Zel began positioning the company as a premium pet lifestyle brand, debuting the Revol Dog Crate with everything he had promised in its design: a functional dog crate that solved major pain points for customers. The direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce was born: bringing premium products to devoted pet parents looking to level up pet care.

Dog crates are a foundational product, most commonly bought at the puppy stage of a dog’s life as a training tool and safe space for your pet. ” Crampton explains. “There was a high degree of dissatisfaction with what was on the market, though, because pet guardians thought most crates were ugly, hard to use, and difficult to collapse and transport – they hated them.  With the launch of the Revol, we set the bar in not only a beautifully designed crate never seen in the market; but in addressing those exact pain points. A safer, easily transportable crate that didn’t take away from the aesthetics of your home. It brought the brand to life.”

Quick metrics: DIGGS growth as an ecommerce brand focused on premium pet products

  • 2019: Following the launch of the Revol crate, DIGGS found product market fit in its first full year of business. 
  • 2020-2022: DIGGS grew quickly in the pandemic despite global supply chain challenges, adding an accessories line to complement dog crate sales. In 2021, DIGGS raised Series A funding and achieved 400% growth in revenue.
  • 2023-present: DIGGS has shifted focus from aggressive growth to sustained profitability. The company is refining its product lineup for mass-market appeal and securing major retail partnerships. DIGGS is on shelves in 815 PetSmart stores and doing trials with Costco.

DIGGS looks for financial support to scale faster: How DIGGS used Clearco’s Invoice Funding to Refinance its Ampla Loan

Zel’s educational background, as well as his work for companies like Deloitte and McKinsey, have helped him develop the strategic market insights and innovative passion that set DIGGS apart. Since its early years, Zel and the DIGGS team have been strategic about its finances. Ampla initially served as the company’s primary lender, providing DIGGS both debt and equity financing. 

As DIGGS hit higher and higher growth, it needed more flexibility from its lender. And as Ampla faced its own challenges, DIGGS suddenly found that they needed to refinance their Ampla loan. Clearco was the obvious Ampla alternative for Zel, who learned of Clearco back when it was Clearbanc. As a Canadian, he used to watch Dragons’ Den (Canada’s Shark Tank) and was familiar with the Clearco brand through Michele Romanow. He also knew of Clearco and Shopify as the original options for ecommerce funding through that medium. 

After speaking with the Clearco team, Zel refinanced the Ampla line of credit for DIGGS’ general operations. In a series of creative transactions, Clearco was able to refinance Ampla while also providing new capital that enabled Diggs to make critical inventory purchases for Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  By submitting invoices from DIGGS’ Ampla loan to Clearco, the company was able to free up cashflow and replace its Ampla loan with new Clearco advances.

Zel spoke with Clearco’s CEO, Andrew Curtis as well as  Pranit Tukrel, Clearco’s Capital Markets Consultant and Nader Dabbo, Chief Legal Officer.  He felt their enthusiasm and dedication to supporting him and his team were unmatched.

“I honestly think the Clearco team is the best financing partner we’ve worked with,” he states.  “They are thoughtful, knowledgeable, and above all else deeply committed to supporting DTC brands with the working capital they need to fuel their growth.”

“DIGGS”ing into the future of premium pet lifestyle and the pet care industry

Currently, Zel and the DIGGS team use a blend of traditional advertising, digital marketing, public relations (PR), and influencer partnerships to help build growth. Google Ads, Meta ads, and keyword optimization are core, as are influencer partnerships on sites like YouTube and TikTok. They’re also tapping into owned channels for marketing, like email marketing and Short Message Service (SMS) campaigns. While community-building will continue, Zel’s long term vision for DIGGS is focused on profitability and sustainable growth. As for “pet lifestyle” brands, Zel predicts premium pet products will remain resilient.

“Since the pandemic there has been a slow down,” he says. “People were constantly trading up and growing and getting new pets, but the premium segment is quite strong and resilient. Lots of retailers in the pet space have had some issues, but long term macro trends are clear: people are spending more and more on their pets.”

Now that’s something to wag about.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Share this post
Kristen Campbell
Content Writer

Kristen is the co-founder and Director of Content at Skeleton Krew, a B2B marketing agency focused on growth in tech, software, and statups. She has written for a wide variety of companies in the fields of healthcare, banking, and technology. In her spare time, she enjoys writing stories, reading stories, and going on long walks (to think about her stories).