DogVacay, which has been coined "Airbnb for dogs" as it connects dog parents in 3,000 cities to one of the company's 20,000 dog-sitters, has raised $25 million in venture funding.
The amount was raised through a Series B1 funding round that was led by Omers Ventures, which is the venture capital unit of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.
With the additional $25 million, DogVacay has now raised a total of $47 million in funding for the company.
DogVacay, which launched in 2012, has sometimes been known as Dogbnb. This is because it has similar operations to Airbnb, which is a marketplace for room rentals.
The major difference of course, is that DogVacay's services are for man's best friend.
Through DogVacay, dog owners living in one of the 3,000 cities covered by the service can hire one of the company's 20,000 accredited dog-sitters.
The idea for DogVacay was hatched from an unfortunate incident by the company's CEO himself, Aaron Hirschhorn.
Once, when Hirschhorn went on a ten-day trip, he sent his two dogs to be taken care of in a kennel. The cost of the service reached $1,400, with one of his dogs hiding under the desk for a few days after returning home from the kennel.
"It was a bad experience for us and for the dogs, and it was expensive," Hirschhorn said.
Hirschhorn and his wife saw an opportunity and launched a business on Craigslist for overnight dog-sitting services. The business did well, serving about 100 clients back in 2011, and because Hirschhorn spent time with two venture capital companies, he saw the startup potential for the business.
From that simple beginning, DogVacay has now booked over 1 million nights, doubling the volume over a period of just five months.
There have been some challenges along the way for DogVacay, including zoning laws that are different state by state and even street by street. However, because the company's dog-sitters only accept at most three dogs per night, there is no need to be licensed kennel operators.
DogVacay has a careful screening process for its dog-sitters, and this shows through the 4.96 average rating of its dog-sitters out of a maximum of five stars.
For added customer service, DogVacay has a 24-hour customer care hotline, which takes up half of the 70-person workforce of the company. In case of emergencies that occur while a dog is under the company's care, DogVacay has robust insurance to ensure proper treatment for dogs.
DogVacay is looking to spend the funds it raised to be able to expand to other countries, as operations are only within the United States and Canada.
The company is also hoping to venture into other services for dogs and dog owners, including boarding, walking, grooming and training.
