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Bark & Co. (BarkBox)
Type of businessE-commerce subscription service
HeadquartersNew York City, New York, U.S.
Area servedUSA and Canada
Founder(s)Matt Meeker, Henrik Werdelin, and Carly Strife
CEOMatt Meeker
Key peopleCathie Black
Employees54
URLwww.barkbox.com
LaunchedDecember 2011; 12 years ago (2011-12)

Bark & Co. (BarkBox) is a New York-based provider of pet-themed products and technology known for its monthly subscription service BarkBox, which has approximately 200,000 monthly subscribers.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The company also operates the dog-themed content site BarkPost, the photo-sharing app BarkCam, and BarkBuddy, a "Tinder for Dogs."[8][9][10][11] Matt Meeker, Henrik Werdelin, and Carly Strife are the founders.[1][6]

History

BarkBox

CEO Matt Meeker, Henrik Werdelin, and Carly Strife founded BarkBox in December 2011.[1][2][3][6][9][10][12] The inspiration for BarkBox arose when co-founder Matt Meeker failed to find retailers in New York City who sold products tailored to dogs of all sizes, specifically his 150 lb. Great Dane Hugo.[2][12][13][14][15] Prior to co-founding BarkBox, Matt Meeker co-founded the social networking site Meetup.com.[1][7][9][15]

Bark & Co

The company rebranded to Bark & Co. in April 2013 after raising $6.7M in venture funding.[6][9][16] The company used the funds to diversify its products, adding the dog-themed content sites BarkPost and PuppyFeed to their repertoire.[9][10] The company surpassed the $25 million revenue run rate the same year.[16] Bark & Co. received an additional $15 Million in Series B funding led by Resolute.vc, along with RRE, BoxGroup, Lerer Ventures, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Slow Ventures, Daher Capital, CAA, Vast Ventures, and City National Bank in 2014.[3][4]

Forbes Magazine named BarkBox as the one of the top 20 companies to follow on social media.[17]

Bark & Co. launched BarkCam in early 2014, a photo sharing app which operates as an "Instagram for dogs" and their owners.[11]

Products and services

BarkBox

Bark & Co.’s flagship product, BarkBox, is a monthly subscription service which caters to dogs and “dog parents.”[9][10][18] Each BarkBox typically contains 4-6 items including bones, toys, treats, accessories, and designed-for-pet dental and health products which have been tested by the company’s on-staff vet.[12] Subscribers can sign up for 1, 3, 6, or 12 month subscriptions.[2][3][12][13][15][18][19][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

10% of BarkBox proceeds go to local shelters, rescues, and animal welfare organizations.[2][14][18][20][23][24][25]

BarkPost

BarkPost is a dog-themed content site similar to BuzzFeed's “Cute” section.[7][10][12][12][15][26][26] The site has over 3M unique visitors each month.[16] The site works in tandem with PuppyFeed, a dedicated webspace where dog owners can share dog photos and videos.[15]

BarkCam

BarkCam is a photo-sharing app, similar to a dog version of Instagram, available for iOS.[11] Users can choose from a variety of built-in sounds, designed to grab the pets' attention, which users activate by tapping the camera shutter.[3] Users can then add text, filters, stickers and chat bubbles to the photo to share on social media platforms.[11]

BarkBuddy

Bark & Co. has also launched BarkBuddy, which is similar to a "Tinder for dogs," as users can swipe left or right depending on their level of interest in the dog.[3][8][27][28] The free app, available for iPhone and Android,[29] is designed to match humans with dogs up for adoption at nearby shelters, and users can filter choices by gender, location, activity level, age, and size.[29] The app is connected to rescue centers and shelters across the United States and Canada, and there are approximately 300,000 dogs in the database.[3][8][28][29] The app sources many of its adoptable dogs from the pet adoption website Petfinder and from Bark & Co’s personal network of shelters and rescue organizations.[27][28]

Co-founders

Matt Meeker is the co-founder of Meetup and former runner of Dogpatch Labs NY.[7] He has founded four startups in total, but BarkBox is his first position as CEO.[1][9][15]

Henrik Werdelin founded Prehype, a New York City-based venture development firm which worked closely with Matt Meeker and Carly Strife to develop BarkBox.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Sarah E. Needleman (22 March 2013). "Are You Ready to Go From Founder to Top Dog". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e Sadie Whitelocks (19 September 2013). "Mail dogs CAN get their teet into!". Daily Mail UK. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Sarah Perez (11 July 2014). "Doggie-Focused Bark & Co (BarkBox) Raises $15 Million Series B". TechCrunch. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  4. ^ a b Dan Primack (14 July 2014). "Deals of the day: Mylan finds its tax inversion partner". Fortune. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  5. ^ Sheila Marikar (11 July 2014). "Turning 'Likes' Into a Career". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d "BarkBox Founder Matt Meeker is Building A Community for Man's Best Friend". The Huffington Post. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d Alyson Shontell (10 July 2013). "BarkBox Generates $1 Million Per Month, Wants To Become A $5 Billion Company in 5 Years". Business Insider. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  8. ^ a b c Laura Stampler (20 May 2014). "Sick of the People on Dating Apps? Now There's a Tinder for Dogs". Time. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Lauren Drell (20 August 2013). "Top Dog: BarkBox's Mission to Reinvent the Pet Industry". Mashable. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Making Millions of Man's Best Friend". Bloomberg Television. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  11. ^ a b c d Karissa Bell (Jul 16, 2014). "BarkCam Helps the Pet-Obsessed Take Better Dog Portraits". Mashable. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Like to Spoil Your Dog? BarkBox May Be for You". Bloomberg Television. 2013. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Jill Martin (28 September 2013). "Pet projects: How US retailers are going to the dogs". BBC. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  14. ^ a b Angela Swartz (Jul 3, 2013). "BarkBox's Matt Meeker Has Big Plans for Pet Projects". All Things Digital. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "Obsessed with your dog? BarkBoxreleases photo-sharing forum for pet owners (exclusive)". Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  16. ^ a b c Erin Griffith (Oct 25, 2013). "Mock all you want: Barbox is laughing all the way to the bank". PandoDaily. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  17. ^ Ilya Pozin (6 March 2014). "20 Companies You Should Be Following on Social Media". Forbes. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  18. ^ a b c "Fox and Friends Saturday". Fox News. March 23, 2013. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  19. ^ a b Amanda Waas (Apr 15, 2013). "Are You Obsessed With Your Dog". Parade. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  20. ^ a b Elizabeth Harper (Dec 6, 2013). "10 Great Gift Box Subscriptions". Time. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  21. ^ Stacy Jones (11 November 2013). "Are You A Dog Owner Or A Dog Parent? This CEO Wants to Know". Fast Company. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  22. ^ Sheila McClear (Aug 5, 2013). "Subscription boxes bring the whole package: Regular service, no shopping and goods of all kinds". New York Daily News. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  23. ^ a b Danielle Bufalini; Allison Hatfield; DeAnna Janes (Apr 16, 2013). "ShopTalk 23 Pet Products to Purr About". Daily Candy. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  24. ^ a b Valerie Rains (2013). "8 Surprising Subscription Box Ideas". Real Simple. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  25. ^ a b Kathleen Mulpeter (Feb 14, 2014). "14 Fun Subscription Boxes to Match Your Personality". All You. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  26. ^ a b Jillian D’Onfro (Oct 2013). "BarkBox Adds Media-Maven and 'Dog Parent' Cathie Black TO Its Board". Business Insider. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
  27. ^ a b Sarah Perez (May 27, 2014). "BarkBuddy is A Tinder for Dogs". TechCrunch. Retrieved Aug 6, 2014.
  28. ^ a b c Kelly Faircloth (May 27, 2014). "There's Finally a Tinder for Adoptable Dogs". Jezebel. Retrieved Aug 6, 2014.
  29. ^ a b c Amy Eley (May 29, 2014). "Tinder for dogs? BarkBuddy app matches pet lovers with local rescues". Today. Retrieved Aug 6, 2014.
  30. ^ Saya Weissman (Aug 13, 2012). "Building the Brand: BarkBox". Digiday. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014.
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