Rover.com

Rover.com is an American company which operates an online marketplace for people to buy and sell pet care services including pet sitting, dog boarding, and dog walking.[2] Rover.com was founded in 2011 in Seattle, Washington and is formally incorporated under the name A Place for Rover, Inc.[3] The company serves as a broker and takes roughly 20% of each transaction booked through its site.[4]

Rover.com
TypePrivate
FoundedJune 13, 2011 (2011-06-13)[1]
FoundersGreg Gottesman
Aaron Easterly
Philip Kimmey
Headquarters
Seattle, Washington
,
U.S.
Area served
United States
Key people
Aaron Easterly, CEO
Brent Turner, COO
Scott Porad, CTO
Jason Kreitzer, VP, Product Management & Marketplace
Tracy Knox, CFO
Services
  • Pet sitting
  • Dog boarding
  • Doggy day care
  • Dog walking
Number of employees
250 (2020)
SubsidiariesDogVacay, Dog Buddy
Websiterover.com

As of September 2016 Rover.com was valued at $300 million.[5]

History

The concept for Rover.com was initially presented at the Startup Weekend contest in Seattle, Washington in June 2011, and was the contest's first-place winner.[1] Greg Gottesman, a managing director at Madrona Venture Group, was among the team of software developers and designers who proposed the idea of an “online matchmaking service connecting pet owners in need of pet care with individuals who might want to take care of a canine companion for a few days.”[3] Gottesman shared the idea with Aaron Easterly, a 15-year tech veteran with a focus on online marketplaces. Easterly became CEO and Gottesman became a board member.[1] Rover.com first began connecting pet owners and sitters in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, then expanded to all 50 states in 2012.[3]

On March 29, 2017, Rover.com acquired DogVacay in an all-stock deal. At that time, it was reported that total bookings on the combined sites amounted to $150 million in 2016, of which they kept about 20% in commission fees.[6]

On May 2, 2018 Rover.com announced expansion into Europe.[7][8]

Financing

Rover.com's first round of investment funding was secured in April 2012, led by Madrona Venture Group.[1] Additional capital was secured in February 2013, from The Foundry Group.[1] In July 2013, Petco announced an investment in Rover and a business partnership for cross-promotion with Petco's stores and website.[9]

In March 2014, it was announced that Rover.com had raised an additional $12 million in funding led by Menlo Ventures, with Madrona Venture Group, The Foundry Group, and Petco.[3] One year later, in March 2015, it was announced that Rover.com raised a $25 million funding round led by Technology Crossover Ventures.[10]

Rover.com received $40 million in investments in October 2016 and another $65 million in July 2017, led by Spark Capital.[11]

In May 2018, Rover.com raised another $155 million funding.[12]

Services

In 2011 Rover.com began by creating a marketplace for dog sitting and boarding services and over the next four years expanded to offer dog walking, doggy daycare, and drop-in visits. Every sitter on the platform is an independent contractor and is not an employee of Rover.com.[5] In 2017 Rover.com began its Quick Match dog walking service, enabling owners to instantly book a dog walker - the service is no longer available[13]

Rover.com takes a percentage of each booking made on its site, from 15-20% for dog sitting/boarding services.

References
  1. "An Airbnb for your pet? A Place for Rover wins best in show at Startup Weekend". GeekWire. 13 June 2011.
  2. Strauss, Duncan (27 September 2017). "Your dog is big business, and Uber-like apps want it" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  3. "Dog owners go online to find alternatives to kennels". Seattle Times. 12 July 2012.
  4. Roof, Katie. "Rover raised $65 million for pet sitting".
  5. "This Founder Turned Doggy Daycare Into a $300 Million Business". Inc. 25 April 2017.
  6. Roof, Katie. "Rover and DogVacay merge to dominate the pet-sitting market". Techcrunch. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  7. "Rover.com Announces Expansion into Europe". The Dog People by Rover.com. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  8. "Rover.com Announces Expansion into Europe". www.businesswire.com. 2018-05-02. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  9. Basich, Zoran (12 March 2014). "The Daily Startup: Rover.com Fetches $12 Million Led by Menlo Ventures".
  10. "Rover raises $25M for dog sitting marketplace, will expand to more cities". 19 March 2015.
  11. "Pet-Sitter Network Rover Got Its Paws on Millions More in VC Cash". Fortune. 13 July 2017.
  12. "Dog-sitting startup Rover just raised $155M – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  13. Sevits, Kurt (27 September 2017). "Rover.com expands on-demand dog walking service to Denver".
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