An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
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An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
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Re: An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
#2I'm really excited about this. I've had a really hard time finding boarders for my dogs. The going rate seems to be around 60/night per dog here, but tends to include things like aromatherapy, which I'm not particularly interested in. I just want someone to feed, walk, and pet them.
Re: An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
#3Next up: Baby.com. When you go on vacation and don't want to take your infant child, just check out a few profiles, pick one, and drop your baby off at the stranger's house. All members are community vetted to ensure quality care. Was your experience less than satisfactory? Simply "thumbs down" the user's profile and write a review to let other members know.
Re: An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
#4To preempt an impending flood of "bubble!" babble:
It may surprise you how sensible this business idea is. As someone who has had to alter vacation plans due to (reluctant) dog ownership: dog boarding is very expensive, and commercial dog boarding facilities are not great, requiring careful reviewing and inspection before selecting; even then, your preferred venues are likely to book up exactly when you want to be out of town.
Re: An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
#5I'm really excited about this. I've had a really hard time finding boarders for my dogs. The going rate seems to be around 60/night per dog here, but tends to include things like aromatherapy, which I'm not particularly interested in. I just want someone to feed, walk, and pet them.
I'm inclined to agree. Growing up, we always had to find hotels that would accommodate our dogs since my parents didn't feel right leaving them in kennels, and trustworthy friends were not always available to come over and take care of the dogs in our house.
I imagine this will be a pretty awesome service for those who need it.
Re: An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
#6I've met a couple of the developers and they seem knowledgeable and excited.
Re: An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
#7This looks silly, but it is actually a really solid concept in my view. It may even be better than the airbnb for humans.
Re: An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
#8Another company in the space is dogvacay (http://dogvacay.com/) which recently got a million dollars in funding (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/3/prweb9299700.htm)
Re: An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
#9This is brilliant; both sides of the market exist and are eager to find the other one.
Rover's biggest problem could be that people will happily watch dogs for free / even pay to do so. This is an unusual problem for a market maker (are there any other examples?)
Re: An Airbnb for Dogs Gets $3.4 Million in Funding
#10To preempt an impending flood of "bubble!" babble: It may surprise you how sensible this business idea is. As someone who has had to alter vacation plans due to (reluctant) dog ownership: dog boarding is very expensive, and commercial dog boarding facilities are not great, requiring careful reviewing and inspection before selecting; even then, your preferred venues are likely to book up exactly when you want to be ou…
Our corgi broke his spine 18 months ago [1] (enormous incision [2]), and was fully paralyzed from the midsection down. We had an operation performed and he's now kind of ok, but permanently restricted from going up or down stairs or any kind of high impact activities. He, of course, is not willingly restricted. Boarding for special needs dogs starts at $120/night and often costs $150+/night, and is very hard to find.
Instead of boarding Linus, we bring him. Many hotels will let you bring a dog for an extra $15 - $20 per night. Unfortunately, you can't leave a dog in your room if you aren't there, so you have to bring dog everywhere. This essentially means no traveling in the south or for much of the summer because it will be too hot to leave dog in the car.
[1] http://danceswithcorgis.com/2010/11/18/dog-laminectomy-updat...
[2] http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad93/Danceswithcorgis/sur...
