Dog-sitting startup Rover just raised $155M

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Rover, a dog-walking and dog-boarding service that merged with DogVacay around this time last year, is now the second of such startups this
year to raise a massive new round of funding with its announcement of a $155 million financing round.While competitor Wag has become a
juggernaut, there seems room for both room for a second player and the potential to outmaneuver Wag even with its massive influx of capital
Both DogVacay and Rover had a very similar model and eventually merged in an all-stock deal, creating a more substantial competitor for Wag
Rowe Price Associates, with a $30 million credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the round values Rover at $970 million.Wag earlier this year picked up $300 million in a massive
funding round led by SoftBank
capital in the process
But it also signaled a huge interest in various dog-care services, including apparently Rover, as a potential business opportunity for the
millions of dog owners in the world
there should be an opportunity to capitalize on dog-ownership as a whole.Rover connects dog owners with various users that will walk, board,
Users just book a dog walker or sitter through the app, which connects them with area sitters
There are, of course, many challenges for any service that offloads some kind of daily need to a third party starting in a similar fashion
Wag or the space in general and as an attempt to soothe concerns from potential users
Rover says it has more than 200,000 sitters throughout North America
Ventures, OMERS Ventures, Petco, and StepStone Group.