Anneke van den Broek

Pet advocate, founder and CEO of Australia’s most awarded pet care brand, Rufus & Coco, Anneke van den Broek has built a highly successful, global pet business offering environmentally conscious, innovative and inspired solutions for pets and the parents who love them.

Since launching in 2008, Anneke has taken Rufus & Coco from a start-up to the largest privately-owned pet business in the pet accessories category selling into grocery in Australia. Through Anneke's leadership Rufus & Coco have elevated their vision from being an Australasian pet care brand to becoming a formidable player in the global pet industry – including being represented in the two largest national grocery chains in Australia and thousands of pet specialty stores around the world. Rufus & Coco is now a trusted household brand, available in 11 countries and selling an average of 4,500 products per day.

In 2019, Anneke established a luxury pet grooming salon, The Fur Salon, that offers the quality of pampering you’d expect from a human salon. A resounding success, The Fur Salon has received industry recognition and outperformed sales targets and there are further plans to open more salons in 2022.

Anneke believes in creating better connections between humans and pets for a better world and consistently uses her public voice to advocate for pet welfare and animal rights. Due to her continued passion and support, in FY21 Rufus & Coco were able to donate over $55,000 to their partner, the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation.

Anneke was recently awarded the 2020 NSW Business Woman of the Year Award by Women NSW and has been recognised as one of Australia’s 50 most influential women entrepreneurs by Rare Birds. She is the recipient of the 2012 Anita Prabhu Women in Business Award, was inducted into the Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame in 2016.