Good Dog, a New York-based marketplace for using expert-backed vetting standards for making it simpler to get a dog from a responsible breeder, shelter, or rescue, has raised $6.7 million in funding from BoxGroup, Felicis Ventures, Slow Ventures, Fuel Capital, BarkBox, SV Angel, and top angel investors including the founders of companies like Warby Parker, Harry’s, Eventbrite, Flatiron Health, PillPack, LearnVest, and DogVacay. This round of funding will be used for scaling the business and growing the Good Dog team.
Josh Wais (CEO) and Lauren McDevitt (Chief Experience Officer), the former co-founders of Wantworthy and early employees at Jet.com, launched Good Dog in order to bring transparency and accountability to the process of getting a dog. There are nine million dogs being brought to new homes every year and Good Dog centralizes search onto one platform where responsible sources are included. Every breeder, shelter, and rescue listed on the platform is vetted on a set of standards created by Good Dog’s advisory board of leading veterinary and academic experts.
“As the process of getting a dog moves increasingly online, it’s becoming easier for puppy mills and other disreputable sources to pass themselves off as trustworthy and reliable. At Good Dog, we help connect prospective dog owners with only reputable, vetted breeders, shelters or rescues, so that each dog has the best chance of a healthy, well-adjusted life,” said Wais.
With the Good Dog platform, potential dog owners have access to comprehensive profiles of the company’s community of trusted partners and can connect with each of them directly. And prospective owners can browse the Learning Center and when they are ready, can submit their application to one of Good Dog’s partners.
Good Dog partners get all the information needed about each potential owner to determine whether they are the right fit for their dogs. And then Good Dog then helps to facilitate everything from communication to helping owners bring their puppy or dog home.
“I’ve been fortunate to be involved with Josh and Lauren since the inception of Good Dog. As I was embarking on my own dog search, it quickly became clear that this was a totally broken process, opening up a massive opportunity within the $72 billion dollar pet market,” added Good Dog Chairman and BoxGroup managing partner David Tisch. “Good Dog is positioned to become the authority in dog ownership, helping to streamline each step of the process.”
