Cat-focused startup Meowtel has climbed to profitability despite struggling to raise capital from dog-focused VCs

According to data, “Dogs” are the most well-liked pet within the US: 65.1 million households have them American Pet Products Association. But while cats aren’t far off, with 46.5 million of them in households, much of the innovation within the pet category has focused solely on dogs. And despite the fact that the service serves each species, it’s more focused on dogs.

Sonya Petcavich, founding father of the cat care app Meowtel, believes cats and kittens deserve more.

When Petcavich’s cat, Lily, died in 2015, she realized she won’t have been the most effective cat mom. Petcavich traveled extensively for her job in sales for Philip Morris and was not home as much as she thought her older cat might need. She knew pet sitting services existed, but didn’t think they provided enough for her feline friends.

“There is a need for a service specifically for people caring for cats; they have very different needs,” Petcavich told TechCrunch. “Rover had been around for just a few years and Wag was gaining momentum, but they were too dog-focused. I said, “Fuck it, I’ll be a crazy cat to do it.”

She took $100,000 of her own money, began a development team, and launched Meowtel in 2015. The startup is a marketplace where cat owners can find cat sitters and only employs individuals who have direct experience in things like giving cats medications (cats are particularly prone to chronic diseases as we age) and take care of cats with special needs. Potential caregivers undergo a rigorous six-step process before they’re approved to join the applying. This features a 30-minute chat with the Meowtel team to confirm that it’s an actual person, which other sit-down sites don’t do. Petcavich joked that it was easier to get into Harvard than to change into a Meowtel keeper.

Since its founding, the corporate has operated mainly in secret. Petcavich said the corporate has only come out of hiding now since the team has put in a whole lot of work during the last nine years, built its brand and got users’ experience where they wanted it to be.

Meowtel is profitable, with gross booking revenue growing 50% year-on-year. The company employs greater than 2,200 caregivers on the platform, a few of whom have been with Meowtel for nine years. The company has processed greater than 95,000 seat applications and has largely focused on larger cities, including New York and Los Angeles. He wants to expand his activities to smaller cities as well.

Meowtel has gotten to this point by raising almost $1 million in enterprise capital. Of that total, $500,000 got here from angels including Jason Calacanis’ Launch and Elizabeth Yin, general partner at Hustle Fund. Additional capital got here from accelerator programs including Tech Wildcatters and Sputnik ATX. The company’s last financing took place in 2020.

Petcavich said raising money from enterprise capitalists was difficult since the enterprise capital community is more focused on dogs and lots of people didn’t understand why cats needed their very own caregiver. Petcavich stated that she nonetheless wanted to raise enterprise funding for Meowtel due to its market-based business model, which she felt was an excellent fit for VC investors. Additionally, due to the capital-intensive nature of market-based businesses, she felt that VC funds would make essentially the most sense.

He’s right that there seem to be many more venture-backed firms specializing in dogs than cats. There are several startups focused on areas akin to higher pet food, accessories, and even those specializing in health. Butternut Box, a British pet food company, has raised over $466 million in VC funding. ImpriMed, a canine oncology startup, raised $23 million in November, and Fi, a wise dog collar, raised greater than $40 million in enterprise capital.

When it comes to cats, there are noticeably fewer of them. Smalls, a fresh pet food company, is considered one of the few venture-funded firms on this category. This raised $19 million last 12 months, and its founder Matthew Michaelson told TechCrunch’s Christine Hall that he believed innovation within the pet category had largely focused on dogs.

But does the market really want or have the capability to provide a cat-only sitting service? Petcavich says yes, and her company’s track record and growth trajectory seem to back it up.

“In the 2020 era, there is a brand that caters to every specific type of audience,” Petcavich said. “These species are different, but no one makes this distinction. I think it was the psyche of the cat owner and the medical needs of the cat itself that really opened up this blue ocean.”