It was in early 2021 that Ehandel.se reported on how the sustainable dog accessory brand Barkalot came to life. With collars and leashes made from recycled PET bottles and vegan apple peel, the founders Amelie Westerberg and John Laster wanted to challenge the traditional pet market when the brand was launched.
But today, the reality is completely different for the e-commerce retailer.
Fresh annual accounts show that the company has fallen into a financial crisis with plummeting sales, depleted capital and a requirement for a balance sheet review.
During the latest financial year 2025, sales plummeted by 73 percent to SEK 279,000, compared to just over SEK 1 million the previous year. At the same time, the loss on the bottom line increased as operating profit fell to minus SEK 1.4 million.
The heavy result means that the equity has been completely wiped out and was negative by just over SEK 400,000 on the balance sheet date.
The company reports a negative equity and a significant loss and a deteriorated turnover compared to the previous year on the balance sheet date. These circumstances indicate an increased risk regarding the company's future earning capacity, writes the auditor in the annual report.
The auditor also criticizes the fact that the company has capitalized development expenses of SEK 1.4 million as assets in the balance sheet, without being able to show evidence that they will generate future revenue.
In previous years, the company has also been plagued by remarks regarding unpaid taxes and fees.
CEO Departure and New Rescue Issues
Parallel to the economic headwinds, the company's management has changed. Both founders have left the board, and the external CEO Sofia Carlson stepped down after only a few months in office, whereupon the chairman Anders Pihlgren took over the CEO role.
The owners are now trying to keep the business alive through repeated capital injections.
After two issues in 2025 and spring 2026, a new application was submitted to Bolagsverket at the end of last week to increase the share capital through another new issue.