In a nation where even the White House had a “first dog” for a while, there’s no denying our country’s obsession with pets. The Pet industry is a roughly $70 billion industry, and with massive tech success stories like Chewy, which sold to PetSmart for over $3 billion, it’s no surprise that startups are popping up to get a piece of this ever-growing market.
What may come as a surprise, however, is one of these companies--a social media startup--is based in Boston, a city that doesn't shine in the social media industry - With at least one notable exception. In a place with countless biotech startups, a social media startup aimed at pet owners is a bit of a black swan (no pun intended).
The goal of GoPetie is creating a mobile community where pet owners can find support, new friends, services and recommendations by getting in touch with people who share the same interests and are based in the same area. In other words, the GoPetie community will be a mix of Yelp and Facebook where users can also post and comment on photos of their furry friends.
The company is headquartered in downtown Boston but it’s currently looking for a new space, possibly in Somerville.
“Pets are just like a child: It takes time, money and resources,” CEO Diego Rodrigues Alves, an MBA graduate from the McCallum Graduate School of Business at Bentley University, said in an interview. “Pet owners need a community where they can find more things that they need... And pets need friends too.”
[pullquote align="left"]"Pet owners need a community where they can find more things that they need."
The app is based on geolocation, so Boston residents may schedule pet walkings and play dates, among other things, with the local community of GoPetie users. A feature that allows users to report missing pets leverages geolocation as well, so people who lost a pet may get help in finding him from users based in the very same area.
Launched in April 2017 after having been developed for over a year, the free app currently has almost 2,000 users. The majority of users are from Massachusetts, but a few are from Florida, Chicago and LA, according to Rodrigues Alves. And about 70% of users are dog owners: Rodrigues Alves, for example, is the owner of a 5-year-old Maltese dog named Johnny.
GoPetie is not the first app of its kind. Seattle-based Rover, for example, connects pet owners with of pet sitters - who charge from $20 a night - and currently offer services in downtown Boston. Or if you’re looking for a new friend, there are almost 1,500 pets available for adoption in Boston according to Petfinder. In Boston, we reported about Baroo, which offers residents living in multi-family luxury buildings a full-service pet concierge.
According to Rodrigues Alves, GoPetie is different from its competitors because it offers the complete range of services - from pet sitting to pet walking - and because it does it for free. “There are other platforms out there, but they’re very expensive,” Rodrigues Alves said in an interview. With GoPetie, users are encouraged to exchange and return pet-related favors free of charge, while other apps require pet owners to pay for their services.
Although GoPetie is available for free on the Apple Store and the Google Play store, the company is planning on monetizing the app by the end of the year or early next year, according to Rodrigues Alves. The first way to start generating revenue will be adding a premium membership - “just like Tinder,” he said - that unlocks access to additional services, including a filter to connect with any GoPetie user, not only with the ones near you.
"And pets need friends too.”
Then, the company will add advertising to the users’ feed, and its internal scheduling system to schedule appointments between pet owners and vets. Whenever pet owners schedule an appointment with a vet who’s part of GoPetie’s network, the company will charge the vet a fee.
Last year, the company raised $150,000 from angel investors (no names were disclosed) and it’s currently raising its seed round. Before it starts monetizing, the company aims at having around 50,000 users in New England, a goal that Rodrigues Alves hopes to achieve by November.
Right after the summer, the company hopes to add a feature that allows pet lovers to register and be part of the community, even though they don’t own any pets (yet).
Image provided.
