- Softbank is reportedly selling its stake in Wag! back to the company, according to The Wall Street Journal’s sources
Japanese holding company SoftBank is selling its stake in Wag! back to the company, according to sources with The Wall Street Journal. The terms of the deal are unknown, but it is rumored to be below the $650 million valuation Wag! was valued at when SoftBank made an investment in the company.
“We are amicably parting ways with SoftBank and SoftBank will no longer have Board representation,” said Wag! CEO Garrett in an internal memo sent to employees. “We thank the Vision Fund for their support in the company to date.”
Wag! is known for connecting dog owners with walkers in the area. And Wag! received its first investment from SoftBank Vision Fund in January 2018. SoftBank is giving up two seats on the Wag! board of directors as well.
Wag! is reportedly also cutting 80% of its staff. And the company might be selling itself to a larger pet company.
Smallwood became CEO in November. And he said that a number of jobs would be cut in order to achieve profitable growth.
“As a more focused company with a solid capital base that is right-sized to the needs of our business and strategy, we have plenty of runway to execute our plans to accelerate our progress toward profitable growth,” added Smallwood in the internal memo. “The decision to move in this direction was based on the strong conviction of our investors that this is the right course for the company.”
The company also made several management changes. For example, Senior Director of Operations David Cane is becoming VP of Customer Success and Trust and Safety (reporting to Dylan Alread). And Vice President of People, HR and Recruiting Dylan Allread is becoming Chief Operating Officer. Vice President of Engineering Mazi Arjomand is getting promoted to Chief Technology Officer. Corporate Controller Alec Davidian is going to be responsible for Finance and Accounting. Julie Xu is going to continue leading the company Legal Department. And Senior Director of Acquisition Marketing Patrick McCarthy is going to become the VP of Marketing.
