Clementine Schouteden is an entrepreneur, scientist, and animal lover who turned her passion into a global business success story. After earning a PhD in Genetics, she began her career at McKinsey & Company, where she gained invaluable experience in strategy and problem-solving. Yet, her true calling emerged from a very personal place: her love for animals, and especially guinea pigs.
Frustrated by the lack of safe, well-designed products for these small pets, Clementine set out to create a better world for them. With no external funding, she bootstrapped Kavee from scratch, transforming it into a seven-figure, award-winning brand trusted by pet owners across the globe. Today, Kavee is recognized not only for its innovative products but also for the community it has built, empowering pet parents to care for guinea pigs with love and expertise.
Clementine’s journey reflects her commitment to making a tangible difference in the pet industry. By blending her scientific background with entrepreneurial drive, she has redefined standards in small pet care, proving that passion and vision can disrupt even the most overlooked markets. Above all, her story is about creating meaningful impact, making animals’ lives healthier and happier, one cage and fleece liner at a time.
Company: Kavee
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Clementine Schouteden: I’m Clementine Schouteden, the founder and CEO of Kavee. My background is in science, I hold a PhD in Genetics, and I started my career at McKinsey & Company before following a very personal passion. As an animal lover, I realized that guinea pigs, beloved pets for so many families, were underserved by the pet industry. The products available often didn’t meet their basic needs for health, space, and wellbeing.
That insight drove me to create Kavee. I bootstrapped the business from scratch with the goal of designing safe, innovative products that truly improve the lives of small pets and their owners. What started as a simple idea has grown into an award-winning, seven-figure global brand. Today, Kavee serves a large and loyal community of pet parents worldwide, and our mission remains the same: to put animal welfare at the heart of everything we do.
How does your company integrate purpose and impact into its overall business strategy?
Clementine Schouteden: Purpose is really at the heart of Kavee, it’s why I started the company in the first place. As a guinea pig owner myself, I saw how poorly the pet industry served these animals, often with products that were unsafe, unsuitable, or simply didn’t take their wellbeing into account. From day one, our strategy has been to design products that genuinely improve the lives of small pets and to educate their owners on best practices for care.
That mission drives every decision we make, from product development to community building. For example, our cages are designed to give guinea pigs enough space to express natural behaviors like “popcorning,” something that’s impossible in most standard cages. We also create extensive educational content to empower pet parents to provide the best care possible.
At the same time, impact is built into how we run the business. We’ve grown Kavee in a sustainable, bootstrapped way, which has kept us close to our values and our community. The result is a global, award-winning brand that has scaled not by compromising on purpose, but by making it the core of our success.
Can you share an example of how your business has successfully balanced profitability with social responsibility or sustainability?
Clementine Schouteden: At Kavee, balancing profitability with social responsibility has always been part of our DNA. We’re proud to say that as we’ve grown, we’ve also made deliberate choices to create positive impact:
Creating jobs in our home market: Even though we operate globally, we’ve chosen to invest in our local economy by creating jobs in the UK, where our business was founded.
Working with disabled workers: One of our warehouse partners employ people with disabilities, giving them meaningful opportunities in a safe and supportive environment. Knowing that every order contributes to this mission makes our work even more rewarding.
Championing diversity in our team: From the start, we’ve favored diversity and inclusion in recruitment, making sure minority groups are represented within our team. We believe this mix of perspectives makes us stronger and more creative.
For us, profitability and responsibility go hand in hand because building a sustainable business means not only caring for small pets and their families but also supporting the wider community that makes Kavee possible.
What role does philanthropy or community involvement play in your company’s mission, and why is it important to you as a leader?
Clementine Schouteden: Philanthropy and community involvement are deeply connected to Kavee’s mission, because at the heart of everything I do is a genuine love for helping people care for their pets. I’ve experienced firsthand how much joy, comfort, and meaning animals can bring into our lives. Guinea pigs may be small, but the bond they create with their families is huge and it’s that bond that inspires me every day.
As a company, we see it as our responsibility to nurture that joy. Whether it’s through sharing educational resources, supporting local shelters, or making our products more accessible, our goal is to strengthen the relationship between pets and their owners. For me personally, that’s where business becomes more than just numbers—it’s about creating a ripple of kindness, happiness, and care in people’s everyday lives.
This is why giving back to our community of pet lovers feels natural. It’s not an add-on to our work, but part of who we are.
How do you ensure that purpose-driven initiatives resonate with both your employees and your customers?
Clementine Schouteden: We make sure our purpose-driven initiatives resonate by connecting them directly to what matters most to our employees and customers: the wellbeing of guinea pigs. A powerful example of this is the sanctuary we finance for old and sick guinea pigs.
For our team, it’s incredibly motivating to know that their work contributes not only to a thriving business but also to giving vulnerable animals a safe, loving home. It reinforces why we do what we do every day.
For our customers, many of whom see their own pets as family, the sanctuary represents the heart of our mission. When they buy from Kavee, they know they’re also supporting guinea pigs who need extra care and compassion. It creates a beautiful sense of shared purpose, our community feels proud to be part of something bigger than just a purchase.
This alignment between business, team, and customers makes our initiatives truly meaningful and ensures they’re embraced with genuine enthusiasm.
What advice would you give to other leaders looking to embed purpose and impact into their organizations?
Clementine Schouteden: My advice would be this: business is hard. There will always be challenges: financial pressures, competition, setbacks you never saw coming. If you’re only in it for the numbers, it can feel exhausting. But when you embed purpose and impact into what you do, the journey becomes meaningful.
For me, knowing that Kavee is not just selling products but also improving the lives of small pets, supporting their families, and giving back to the community makes every struggle worth it. It’s what gets me out of bed on the tough days and what unites my team and customers around a shared mission.
So my advice to other leaders is simple: don’t just build a business, build something that matters. Purpose won’t make the hard parts disappear, but it will give them meaning, and that makes the whole journey worthwhile.
