🦥 #22 The Gutsy Story: From Insect Dog Food to €1.1M Raised

Today

• ✋ Antwerpreneur: Achilles Hannecart- Co-Founder of Gutsy

• 🧃 Giggle Juice: By Sarah Andersen

• 💎 Quiz Question: Can you guess which country in Europe has the most pet dogs?

✋ Antwerpreneur: Achilles Hannecart

Some mornings, Achilles is in the gym at 7:00am, at his desk by 8:30am with a coffee in hand.

Some nights, he's still at the office until late, ordering Knees to Chin with his team for the fifth time that month.

This is what it looks like when a university class project becomes one of Belgium's top pet food brands.

Two Dogs, One Question, and the Entire Problem

Achilles and Jack were just students at Ghent University working on a group project.

Achilles had a young dog named Choco. Jack had Otis.

"What do you feed Otis?" Achilles asked.

"I don't know," Jack said.

"What do you feed Choco?"

"I don't know."

That moment, two dog owners realizing they had no idea what they were actually feeding their pets became the seed of everything.

They started researching, visiting universities, and talking to manufacturers. And they kept landing on insects. Not because it was trendy, but because it worked.

So the idea began to take shape: dog food based on chicken or fish, insects, fruits, and vegetables.

They called it Bestiola. Latin for insects.

"Terrible name," Achilles laughs. "It's like an inside joke at the office now."

But something changed when they presented to a jury of entrepreneurs. They suggested, "You should apply for accelerator programs."

They spent months debating it. Should we actually do this?
Then they applied to three accelerators. Got accepted to all three: Startit KBC, Expedition Do!, and Start Academy.

"The workload was insane. It pushed the idea into a company so fast we didn't have time to second-guess it." Achilles says.

When Achilles first pitched the idea to his family, they smiled and nodded.

"In the back of their heads, they were like, 'What is he doing?' But they didn’t tell me. They were very supportive. That’s very nice."

Strangers were less polite.

"Some people were like, 'Feeding insects to my dog? Are you crazy?'" Achilles says. "But  some turn around once they hear the full benefits."

"For us, insects are a means to an end. We're not making insect dog food for fun. We do it because it has actual added value. We make great products. That's the reason."

And then suddenly, things got real.

"Next thing you know, we're at the notary signing papers."

Bestiola was dead. 
Gutsy was born.

The First 100 Customers

In the beginning, Gutsy tried to outsource distribution.

A shop owner approached them, wanted to help. It seemed perfect, until it wasn't.

"He has a shop to manage. We were dependent on him. It wasn’t going really fast," Achilles says. "We realized we are the ones who should sell it first."

So they took back control. Every week, the founders loaded the car and hit the road. Store after store. Pitch after pitch. Rejection after rejection.

"Some went along with our enthusiasm, but most were like, 'Who in the hell are you? And hell no.'

The answer? Go back. Again. And again.

"You have to go back five, six times to convince them. Whether you close the deal or not, you'll get there if you work on the relationship."

Then came the weekends.

For months, Achilles spent every Saturday and Sunday in pet stores doing product demos. Eight-hour shifts. Talking to every single customer who walked by.

"It had zero to do with our marketing budget, because we had none. But it worked."

Why? Because the store owners watched. They saw commitment. Customers saw commitment. And some of those first customers became brand ambassadors.

"I had customers I'd already pitched once. Then I'm in a different store a month later, and it's the same customer," Achilles says. "I'd be like, 'Ah, I didn't convince you last time.' And they're like, 'Okay, fine, I'll try it.'"

"But you can’t build a company on that," Achilles admits. "You only have two founders and two weekend days. Most stores are closed on Sunday. It worked, but it’s not scalable."

The Mission: Stop the Lies

"Know what you give your pet."

It sounds like a tagline. It's not.

When Achilles and Jack researched the dog food industry, they didn't just find bad products. They found systematic deception.

"We got so frustrated with how many lies are being sold to consumers," he says. "And it's not hard to lie, because you can't check. The dog kibble is all small, brown, and round. It smells like dog food. That's the problem."

With human food, you can see what’s wrong. Bright colors, obvious processing, strange additives. 

"Everyone is realizing that just eating anything isn't good for you. It's translating to dog food now too," he says. "But the industry doesn't want you to look closely."

"If I could change one thing about this sector before I die, it’s that companies stop getting away with lies."

That's the entire point of Gutsy.

Transparency. Real ingredients. No hiding.

"Just read the ingredients for once. Nine out of ten people will be like, 'What the f*ck is this? Why is this in my dog’s food? And once you read it, you realize a brand like Gutsy isn't expensive. It's an investment.” Achilles says.

Bootstrapping to €1.1M 

For years, Gutsy was entirely self-funded.

Then a couple of months ago came the €1.1 million funding round.

Today, Gutsy is in 400+ stores across Belgium and sells through their own online shop.

But their unfair advantage isn't the funding. It's relationships.

"Big brands don't have real relationships with stores because they're everywhere," Achilles explains. "They rely on online distribution where prices drop constantly. We show up. We visit. People notice."

He tells a story that perfectly captures the problem:

“A pet shop discovered that one of the biggest online pet food retailers was selling a brand products cheaper than his wholesale price.

So he called the brand's sales rep.

You don't have to come anymore. It's fine. I'll order on that website from now on.

He hung up. And then he actually did it, and ordered a pallet online.

That's the moment you realize they won't be backing your brand anymore.

Gutsy will never do that to their retail partners. And our partners know it." Achilles says.

Fighting Goliaths 

Belgium’s pet food market is brutal.

Legacy brands have budgets Gutsy can’t touch. On top of that, dog owners are loyal, and most buy one brand for life.

"If people buy dog food without knowing why, it's usually because of marketing. They can change brands easily," Achilles says. "But if a vet recommended it? That's a hard call. And vets work with big brands to distribute their products."

Gutsy works with vets on product development. 

But cracking the vet distribution channel isn't the focus yet.

"There's so much work to do. You need to pick your battles."

One advantage Gutsy has: speed.

Pet food trends follow human food trends by a few years. That gives Gutsy time to prepare and the agility to move faster than companies with long approval processes.

"We have good relationships with clients and flexibility. Big brands don't have the speed to quickly test new products."

Their product line isn’t just dog food anymore. Gutsy now has supplements and care products too.

The Team

Today, Gutsy is more than the two founders.

Jack and Achilles are still there. Wouter, who started as a student helper, and is now their longest-tenured employee, running marketing. Then Julie in operations, Sébastien in sales, Ellen in customer service and marketing, and Yente in content creation.

They're hiring for two roles: sales and performance marketing.

"The most rewarding part?" Achilles doesn't hesitate. "Working with a team of people who are all my friends. Everyone on the team, I can go out for long nights, have drinks, and have fun. You're working in an environment you really want to be in, and it's one you create yourself."

Five Years from Now

When Achilles talks about the future, he's precise.

"The packaging, the message, the brand awareness. Everything has to evolve and mature," he says. "But the mission stays the same: empower people to make their own choices."

He wants a world where dog owners actually read ingredient labels. Where transparency isn't revolutionary, it's baseline.

"I want people to actively look for Gutsy in stores. Not get convinced. Just know."

Advice from Achilles

• Go faster. Timing is everything.

• At the beginning don’t waste money on marketing agencies, and don’t outsource things before you’ve done them yourself. You’ll learn very quickly how fast money disappears.

• Sell the product even before you have it. That’s the only way to know if there’s real product-market fit. You might have an amazing product, but if you can’t sell it, you don’t have a business.

• Explore. Try things. Fail a few times. You only figure it out by doing.

Gutsy isn't just about dog food.

It's about two students who asked a simple question and couldn't accept the answer they got.

It's about refusing to lie.

It's about spending every weekend for years pitching strangers in pet stores because that's what it takes.

That's Gutsy. 

And staying true to that mission, Gutsy released their Christmas boxes. For the third year in a row, they donate 10% of all the revenue to Dierenasiel Gent, the animal shelter.

A small gesture. A real impact. And a reminder that building a business can also mean showing up for the dogs who don’t have anyone else. You can get the Christmas Boxes here!

Achilles’ Recommendations

• Brands: Edgar and Cooper. Upfront

• Podcast: Founders by David Senra

• Books:

  1. Working backwards by Bill Carr and Colin Bryar

  2. How to make a Few Billion Dollars by Brad Jacobs

  3. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

• Song listening on repeat: Everything's Coming Our Way by Santana

• Favorite place in Antwerp: Café Kamiel

Antwerpreneur-to-Antwerpreneur Q&A

Question: Which person accelerated your entrepreneurial journey the most in life?

Achilles’ answer: “There are a few names: My Co-founder Jack, we push each other to be better every day. Jim Nkolo and Tom Van Damme are also people we look up to and have helped. The girlfriends at home who are very patient with us being away all weekend selling dog food and working late nights.”

Where can you find Achilles?

You can find him on LinkedIn.

🧃 Giggle Juice

🥲 

💎 Quiz Question

Which European country has the largest number of pet dogs?

A) Germany

B) Spain

C) United Kingdom

D) Italy

_{You can find the answer at the end}