Curafyt Group · Founded in Belgium

Two different paths.
One conviction.

A veterinarian who could no longer accept reactive care. An executive who walked away from one of the world’s biggest companies to rethink what animals eat.

  • Founder

    Valérie De Clerck

    Veterinarian & Nutritionist

  • Co-founder

    Nicolas Bartholomeeusen

    Former MD at AB InBev

Curafyt Group did not start with a business plan. It started with a pattern that would not go away. Animals reaching the vet only when things had already gone wrong, while better nutrition and earlier care could have changed the outcome entirely.

Portrait of Valérie De Clerck

Valérie De Clerck

Founder · Curafyt

  • Veterinarian
  • Nutritionist
  • Founder

The veterinarian

Valérie De Clerck

Veterinarian and Nutritionist · Founder of Curafyt

Early in her clinical career, Valérie kept seeing the same pattern repeat itself. Owners would bring their animals in once symptoms had already progressed, and ask why no one had mentioned nutrition or prevention earlier. She had no good answer.

In consultation after consultation, she prescribed treatments that might have been avoided with the right daily support. Not through neglect, but because nutrition and prevention were still too often overlooked, and the right tools did not exist: science-backed, vet-recommended supplements owners could actually trust and use consistently.

So she built them herself. Curafyt launched in 2021 with a focused range of horse supplements, each developed with veterinary specialists and grounded in peer-reviewed research. Every formula started from a real clinical problem she had seen, not a market opportunity.

Background
Practising veterinarian and nutritionist, Belgium
What drove her
1,000+ clinical consultations with the same pattern: prevention and nutrition consistently came too late
What she built
A vet-led supplement range for horses, dogs and cats: clinically informed, peer-reviewed and filler-free

From the start, Curafyt operated on one principle: the veterinarian stays at the centre. Not just during illness, but throughout the animal’s nutritional journey and long-term care.

Again and again, I saw owners searching for answers once an animal was already struggling, while so much more could have been done earlier. Prevention deserves a much bigger role in animal health.

Valérie De Clerck, Founder and Veterinarian · Curafyt
Portrait of Nicolas Bartholomeeusen

Nicolas Bartholomeeusen

Co-founder · Curafyt Group

  • Entrepreneur
  • FMCG Leader
  • Sustainability

The entrepreneur

Nicolas Bartholomeeusen

Former Managing Director Netherlands at AB InBev · Founder of Imby Pet Food

Nicolas had a career most people would not walk away from. As Managing Director Netherlands at AB InBev, one of the world’s largest consumer companies, he understood at scale what it takes to build a brand, win distribution and earn genuine consumer trust.

But he kept coming back to a problem closer to home. Pet owners were trying to make better choices for their animals and were overwhelmed. Marketing claims without science behind them. Traditional pet food categories that had not meaningfully changed in decades. And a growing wave of food sensitivities and skin issues that nobody seemed to connect to diet.

He founded Imby Pet Food to build something different: hypoallergenic, insect-based nutrition that was both scientifically grounded and genuinely more sustainable. It was not just about the protein source. It was about treating nutrition as a functional, preventive part of animal health from the very beginning.

Background
Managing Director Netherlands, AB InBev
What drove him
Pet owners deserved better than conflicting claims. Nutrition had to become genuinely preventive and scientifically honest.
What he built
Imby Pet Food: hypoallergenic, insect-based nutrition for dogs and cats, trusted by 25,000+ customers

Imby grew quickly because it solved a real problem. By the time Nicolas met Valérie, both had independently arrived at the same place: preventive animal health works best when nutrition and veterinary guidance work together, from day one.

Many pet owners were trying to make healthier choices but were overwhelmed by marketing claims and conflicting advice. We believed nutrition needed to become more scientifically grounded, more sustainable, and more connected to long-term wellbeing.

Nicolas Bartholomeeusen, Co-founder · Curafyt Group
Horses

Horses

Dogs & Cats

Dogs & Cats

How Curafyt Group was born

Different starting points.
Identical conviction.

Valérie was building from clinical practice inward: products developed from real veterinary problems, backed by science. Nicolas was building from consumer reality outward: cutting through marketing noise to create nutrition that actually worked preventively.

When they found each other, the overlap was clear. Both believed preventive animal health is most effective when veterinarians remain closely involved throughout nutrition, supplementation and long-term care.

In 2026, Curafyt and Imby Pet Food formally united under Curafyt Group. The ambition: become Europe’s leading veterinary-led platform for preventive animal health, across horses, dogs and cats.

The journey so far

  1. Curafyt launches. First vet-led horse supplement range in Belgium. Built from clinical observation, not market research.

  2. Imby Pet Food scales. Hypoallergenic nutrition for dogs and cats reaches 25,000+ customers across Belgium.

  3. Thousands of vets recommend Curafyt across Belgium, Netherlands and France. Clinical trial with Ghent University completed.

  4. Curafyt Group is formed. 9x revenue growth since 2022. 50,000+ animals supported. 1000+ vets recommending Curafyt. Europe next.

9x
Revenue growth since 2022
50,000+
Animals supported
1,000+
Vets recommending Curafyt
92%
OF ANIMAL OWNERS ARE SEEING POSITIVE RESULTS
Where we are going

Europe’s most trusted name in preventive animal health.

Horses, dogs and cats are true family members. Owners want the very best for them, but they are overwhelmed by claims, products and conflicting online advice. We want to give them confidence again: the most nutritious, safe, science-backed solutions possible, with the veterinarian as their partner.

Learn more about the science behind Curafyt