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If every dog has its day, perhaps every 'Uber for dogs' has its Lyft.
The Seattle-based startup Rover.com is making aggressive moves in the Los Angeles market with a familiar-sounding business model – it finds dog lovers to take care of canines when their owners cannot – and it may have its eye on the alpha position, or at least a hearty tussle with local competitor DogVacay.
Rover.com has had operations in LA for a few years. The area is one of the startup's largest markets, and this year's Southland dog-sitting business has been six times larger for Rover than last year's. Thus, it is rolling out its enhanced Rover Premier service here right now.
That announcement comes yapping at the heels of some more big news for Rover. The company has just scored backing from A-GRade, the local firm run by Guy Oseary, Ron Burkle, and Ashton Kutcher. Numbers from the investment round remain undisclosed.
“We were honored that A-GRade actually approached us!” said Rover's PR chief Brandie Gonzales.
[ibimage==33971==Medium==none==self==ibimage_align-right]“The A-GRade team has been interested in this space for a while, but it wasn’t until we met the team at Rover.com and learned about its robust marketplace that we finally found the company we wanted to back,” said Kutcher in a statement. “As dog owners, we understand how difficult it can be to find someone you trust to care for your dog. Rover is solving a problem millions of people deal with everyday by providing the most sensible solution, connecting dog owners with people who truly love dogs and want to take care of them. Rover has huge opportunity for growth and is primed to not only tackle the industry but grow it significantly.”
Gonzales said that Rover isn't particularly concerned with challenging Dogvacay. “Actually, Rover’s biggest competition comes from pet parents using their friends and families because they don’t realize that a more convenient, affordable, guilt-free option exists!”
