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Rover (company)

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This article is about the pet care service company. For the former British car company, see Rover Company.
Rover Group, Inc.
FormerlyRover.com
Company typePrivate
Nasdaq: ROVR (2021–2024)
FoundedJune 13, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-06-13)[1]
Founders
  • Greg Gottesman
  • Aaron Easterly
  • Philip Kimmey
Headquarters
Seattle, Washington
,
U.S.
Area served
United States
Key people
  • Aaron Easterly (CEO)
  • Brent Turner (COO)
Services
  • Pet sitting
  • Dog boarding
  • Doggy day care
  • Dog walking
  • Pet drop ins
OwnerBlackstone Inc. (2024–)
Number of employees
250 (2021)
Subsidiaries
  • DogVacay
  • Dog Buddy
Websiterover.com

Rover Group, Inc. 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 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] The company was publicly listed on the Nasdaq since 2021, until it was taken private by Blackstone in 2024.

History

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Rover was founded by Greg Gottesman after he had a difficult time finding good pet sitter for his yellow Labrador. In June 2011, he went to the Startup Weekend in Seattle, Washington, and pitched the idea for what would become Rover. At that event, Gottesman worked with interested supporters, including co-founder Philip Kimmey, and they later decided to move ahead with starting the company.[1][3][5][6][7]

Rover first began operations in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. By 2012 it had expanded to all 50 states.[3]

On March 29, 2017, Rover 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.[8]

On May 2, 2018, Rover announced expansion into Europe.[9][10]

Rover has a panel of pet experts, including vets Dr. Gary Richter, Dr.Rebecca Greenstein, dog expert and trainer Nicole Ellis, and cat expert Mikel Delgado that assist in giving pet advice and guidance.

Services

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In 2011, Rover began creating a marketplace for dog sitting and boarding services. Over the next four years, it expanded its business to include dog walking, daycare, and drop-in visits. Every sitter on the platform is an independent contractor and is not an employee of Rover.[5] In 2017, Rover began its Quick Match dog walking service, enabling owners to instantly book a dog walker. The service is no longer available.[11] Rover takes a percentage of each booking made on its platform.

Lawsuits and controversies

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Rover has been sued multiple times for deaths of pets resulting from negligent care provided by sitters. In September 2020, a woman's dogs went missing for three months following a Rover visit.[12] The sitter who had been watching the dogs was still accepting new clients and available on Rover while the pet owner was searching for her dogs. Rover only referred to themselves as an advertising company for independent contractors. Rover's current Q&A Community page had a question posted by a woman whose dog in the care of Rover sitter escaped the yard where the dog was left unattended, and was later hit by a car and killed.[13] The Rover user asked for some sort of reimbursement and the sitter to be removed. Rover responded by asking the user to reach out to Rover's team to review the case. An article from 11ALIVE.com discusses a woman whose dog also escaped during a Rover boarding and was hit and killed by car.[14] She has since started a petition asking for Rover to review their criteria for sitters and the safety of the pets. The petition, started after her dog died June 4, 2021, is currently above 15,175 signatures.

Financing

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Rover'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.[15]

In March 2014, it was announced that Rover had raised an additional $12 million in funding led by Menlo Ventures, with Madrona Venture Group, The Foundry Group, and Petco.[6] One year later, in March 2015, it was announced that Rover raised a $25 million funding round led by Technology Crossover Ventures.[16]

Rover received $40 million in investments in October 2016 and another $65 million in July 2017, led by Spark Capital.[17]

In May 2018, Rover raised another $155 million funding.[18]

Rover became a publicly traded company via a special-purpose acquisition company in August 2021 and was listed on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker: ROVR.[19]

In November 2023, Blackstone announced that it would acquire Rover for $2.3 billion.[20] The acquisition was completed in February 2024.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "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. ^ a b c "Dog owners go online to find alternatives to kennels". Seattle Times. 12 July 2012.
  4. ^ Roof, Katie (13 July 2017). "Rover raised $65 million for pet sitting".
  5. ^ a b "This Founder Turned Doggy Daycare Into a $300 Million Business". Inc. 25 April 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Rover.com lands $12M more in financing". Seattle Times. 13 March 2014.
  7. ^ "The Inspiring Story of the Team Behind Rover.com". Pivot CPAs. 8 April 2021.
  8. ^ Roof, Katie (29 March 2017). "Rover and DogVacay merge to dominate the pet-sitting market". Techcrunch. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Rover.com Announces Expansion into Europe". The Dog People by Rover.com. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  10. ^ "Rover.com Announces Expansion into Europe". www.businesswire.com. 2018-05-02. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  11. ^ Sevits, Kurt (27 September 2017). "Rover.com expands on-demand dog walking service to Denver".
  12. ^ "Goodyear woman searching for lost dogs after leaving them in the care of a pet sitter on Rover". KNXV. 2020-09-14. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  13. ^ "Pet death due to sitter... | Rover Q&A Community". www.rover.com. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  14. ^ "Dog owner issues warning ahead of holiday weekend after pet dies with sitter she found online". 11Alive.com. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  15. ^ Basich, Zoran (12 March 2014). "The Daily Startup: Rover.com Fetches $12 Million Led by Menlo Ventures".
  16. ^ "Rover raises $25M for dog sitting marketplace, will expand to more cities". 19 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Pet-Sitter Network Rover Got Its Paws on Millions More in VC Cash". Fortune. 13 July 2017.
  18. ^ "Dog-sitting startup Rover just raised $155M – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  19. ^ Bek, Nate (August 31, 2022). "A year after going public via SPAC, Rover rings the Nasdaq bell and aims for international expansion". GeekWire.
  20. ^ Summerville, Abigail (November 29, 2023). "Rover agrees to $2.3 billion go-private deal with Blackstone". Reuters. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  21. ^ Soper, Taylor (27 February 2024). "Rover CEO on company's next chapter as pet-sitting giant completes $2.3B deal with Blackstone". GeekWire.
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