Canines are America’s hottest pets: 65.1 million households personal a canine, in accordance with the American Pet Merchandise Affiliation. Whereas cat possession just isn’t far off, with 46.5 million households proudly owning a cat, a lot of the innovation within the pet class is concentrated solely on canines. Though the service caters to each species, the main focus is extra on canines.
Sonya Petcavich, founding father of cat-sitting app Meowtel, believes cats and cat folks deserve extra.
When Petcavage’s cat Lily died in 2015, she realized she may not have been the most effective cat mom. Petcavage travels lots for her gross sales job at Philip Morris and does not spend as a lot time at residence as she thinks her aged cat may want. She knew there have been pet sitting companies, however she did not suppose they have been ample for her feline mates.
“There must be companies particularly for cat lovers; they’ve very completely different wants,” Petcavage instructed TechCrunch. “Rover had been round for a couple of years and Wag was booming, however they have been so targeted on canines. I mentioned, ‘Fuck, I’m going to be the loopy cat particular person doing this.
She spent $100,000 of her personal cash, assembled a growth workforce, and launched Meowtel in 2015. (Cats are significantly inclined to persistent illness as they age) and caring for cats with particular wants. Potential nannies undergo a rigorous six-step course of till they’re allowed onto the app. This features a 30-minute name with the Meowtel workforce to confirm that they’re an actual particular person, one thing that different agent websites can’t do. Petcavage joked that it could be simpler to get into Harvard than change into a Meowtel nanny.
The corporate has operated largely in secret since its inception. Petcavage mentioned the corporate is simply now rising from stealth as a result of the workforce has put within the work over the previous 9 years to construct its model and get the person expertise it desires.
Meowtel is already worthwhile, with its gross reserving income rising 50% year-on-year. The corporate has greater than 2,200 nannies on its platform, a few of whom have been with Meowtel for 9 years. The corporate has fulfilled greater than 95,000 seating requests, largely in main cities equivalent to New York and Los Angeles. It additionally hopes to develop its footprint into smaller cities.
Up to now, Meowtel has raised almost $1 million in enterprise capital. $500,000 of that got here from angel traders, together with Elizabeth Yin, common companion of Jason Calacanis’ Launch and Hustle Fund. Further funding got here from accelerator packages together with Tech Wildcatters and Sputnik ATX. The corporate’s most up-to-date financing was in 2020.
Petcavage mentioned elevating cash from enterprise capital companies is troublesome as a result of the enterprise capital world is extra dog-centric and many individuals do not perceive why cats want their very own care. Even so, Petcavage mentioned she needed to hunt enterprise capital for Meowtel due to its market enterprise mannequin, which she believed was match for enterprise capital. Moreover, because of the capital-intensive nature of the market enterprise, she believes enterprise capital makes probably the most sense.
She’s proper, there look like way more dog-focused enterprise capital companies than cat-focused ones. There are a number of startups targeted on higher pet food, equipment, and even well being. Butternut Field is a UK-based pet food firm that has raised over $466 million in enterprise capital. Canine most cancers startup ImpriMed raised $23 million in November, and sensible canine collar Fi has raised greater than $40 million in enterprise capital.
As for cats, there are considerably fewer of them. Contemporary pet meals firm Smalls is without doubt one of the few venture-backed corporations within the class. The corporate raised $19 million final 12 months, and founder Matthew Michaelson instructed TechCrunch’s Christine Corridor that he additionally believes innovation within the pet class is concentrated on canines.
However does the market really want or have the power to help sitting companies particularly for cats? Petcavage says sure, and her firm’s success and development trajectory thus far appear to bear that out.
“Within the age of 2020, there’s a model that caters to each particular sort of viewers that exists,” Petcavage mentioned. “The species are completely different, however nobody differentiates that. I feel what actually opens up this blue ocean is the psychology of cat homeowners and the medical wants of the cats themselves.
