Barkbox has begun approaching investors to raise a new round of funding worth $30 million to $40 million, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The New York-based company sells dog gear and treats by monthly subscription. As of last October, the company had grown by 10x over the year prior, hitting 100,000 subscribers who pay between $19 and $29 per month for the boxes. The company had also crossed the $25 million revenue run rate, meaning it was bringing in around $2 million per month. I’m told by potential investors that that subscriptions had grown significantly in the last six months.
The company previously raised $6.7 million from RRE Ventures, Box Group, Lerer Ventures, 500 startups, Resolute.VC, Polaris Partners, and Bertelsmann Digital Investment Group.
Barkbox capitalizes on the “crazy dog person” trend, in which people are increasingly having dogs instead of babies. They’re spending as much money on them, too. A recent report from Quartz outlines the trend:
Premium dog food, the most expensive kind, has grown by 170% over the past 15 years, and now accounts for 57% of of the overall dog food market.
Barkbox doesn’t traffic in food, but all of the accessories, treats and toys a dog could want. In this category, startups like Wag.com and Petflow compete for share-of-wallet. The companies often draw comparisons to Pets.com, the company which became the symbol of dotcom-era excesses. But all signs point to the fact that the idea was good, the timing was bad. Shipping and logistics have advanced in the last fifteen years, making the delivery of pet food and gear by subscription a viable business plan.