Dogs are the most popular pet in the US: 65.1 million households have one, according to the American Pet Products Association. But while cats aren't far behind, with 46.5 million households owning one, much of the innovation in the pet category has focused exclusively on dogs. And even if the service serves both species, the focus is more on dogs.
Sonya Petcavich, founder of cat care app Meowtel, believes cats and cat lovers deserve more.
When Petcavich's cat Lily died in 2015, she realized she might not have been the best cat mom. Petcavich traveled a lot for his sales job for Philip Morris and wasn't home as much as he thought his older cat might have needed. She knew pet sitting services existed, but she didn't think they did enough for feline friends.
“There needs to be a service specifically for cat lovers; they have very different needs,” Petcavich told TechCrunch. “Rover had been around for a few years and Wag was gaining momentum, but they were very focused on the dogs. I said, 'Fuck it, I'm going to be the crazy cat guy who does this.'”
He took $100,000 of his own money, found a team of developers, and launched Meowtel in 2015. The startup is a marketplace for cat owners to find cat sitters and only hires people who have direct experience with things like giving cats medications. (cats are especially prone to chronic diseases as they age) and care for cats with special needs. Potential caregivers go through a rigorous six-step process until they are allowed to join the app. This includes a 30-minute call with the Meowtel team to verify you're a real person, something other sites don't do. Petcavich joked that it's easier to get into Harvard than to become Meowtel's babysitter.
The company has largely been operating by stealth since its founding. Petcavich said the company only came out of stealth now because over the past nine years, the team worked, built its brand and brought the user experience to where it wanted it to be.
Meowtel is profitable and its gross booking volume revenue is growing 50% year on year. The company has more than 2,200 attendees on the platform, some of whom have been with Meowtel for all nine years. The company has completed more than 95,000 seat requests and has focused primarily on larger cities, including New York and Los Angeles. It is also looking to expand its footprint to smaller cities.
Meowtel has gotten to this point by raising just under $1 million in venture capital. Of that total, $500,000 came from angels, including Jason Calacanis' Launch and Hustle Fund general partner Elizabeth Yin. Additional capital came from accelerator programs including tech Wildcatters and Sputnik ATX. The company's most recent financing was in 2020.
Petcavich said raising money from venture capitalists was difficult because the venture capital community is more focused on dogs and many people didn't understand why cats needed their own grooming service. Petcavich said he still wanted to seek venture funding for Meowtel because of its marketplace business model, which he believed made it suitable for venture capitalists. Additionally, due to the capital-heavy nature of market businesses, he thought venture capital money made more sense.
You're right that there seem to be many more VC-backed companies focused on dogs than cats. There are several startups focused on areas like better dog food, accessories, and even some focused on health. Butternut Box, a UK-based dog food company, has raised more than $466 million in venture capital funding. IpriMed, a canine oncology startup, raised $23 million in November, and Fi, a smart collar for dogs, has raised more than $40 million in venture capital.
As for cats, there are noticeably fewer of them. Fresh pet food company Smalls is one of the few venture capital-backed companies in its category. He raised $19 million last year, and founder Matthew Michaelson told TechCrunch's Christine Hall that he also believes innovation in the pet category has largely focused on dogs.
But does the market really need or have the capacity to support a cat-only grooming service? Petcavich says yes, and his company's success so far and his growth trajectory seem to back him up.
“In the era of 2020, there is a brand that caters to every specific type of audience that exists,” Petcavich said. “These species are different, but no one makes that distinction. “I think it's the psychology of the cat owner, the medical needs of the cat itself, that really opened up this blue ocean.”
