Earlier today, DogVacay, an exciting new startup in Los Angeles, announced that Benchmark has led its most recent round of financing. DogVacay is an online marketplace that links dog owners with passionate dog care providers who open up their own home as an alternative to the traditional cage-oriented kennel. At first blush, a web site that allows owners to book a “Dog Vacation” for their esteemed pet may seem like an unusual choice for a venture investment. However, a more analytical and detailed look at the market uncovers that this is a high potential, high probability online marketplace opportunity.
The most recent Above the Crowd blog post, titled All Marketplaces Are Not Created Equal, outlines ten different ways to judge the potential effectiveness of an online marketplace. You may be surprised how well DogVacay checks out against this list:
After taking a detailed look at the crowd-sourced dog care market; we became quite excited about the opportunity at DogVacay. In addition to our analysis, we had the added benefit that the company had been live since March, and we were able to confirm our analysis by witnessing amazing early traction in the field. DogVacay’s six-month ramp and current monthly gross transaction revenue are very reminiscent of the very best of our previously funded successful marketplaces. From out perspective, DogVacay is a winner in the making.
We are super excited to be working with Aaron Hirschhorn, the founder and CEO of DogVacay. He is not only an amazingly smart entrepreneur, but also a passionate dog owner. We are also thrilled to be working with First Round once again (as in Mint, Uber), and are excited about our first partnership with Peter Pham, Mike Jones, and the team at Science in Los Angeles.
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