Rover, the US-based petsitting and dog walking service that counts pet product retailer Petco as an investor, agreed yesterday to list through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
The deal will involve Rover teaming up with Nebula Caravel Acquisition Corp, which is sponsored by technology investment firm True Wind Capital. Rover will also take the place on the Nasdaq Capital Market the SPAC secured through a $250m initial public offering in December 2020.
The merged business, Rover Group, is set to be valued at approximately $1.63bn once the transaction closes and will receive $50m from undisclosed institutional investors to support the deal.
Founded in 2011, Rover operates an online marketplace for pet services such as dog walking, petsitting and grooming from a network of some 500,000 providers. It had secured $281m in equity financing as of a $125m round in 2018.
The 2018 round was led by funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price and it included Cross Creek, Greenspring Associates, Spark Capital, Winslow Capital Management and TCV, valuing the company below $1bn.
Spark Capital had already led a $65m round for the company the year before, investing with Bespoke Strategies, StepStone Group, TCV, Madrona Venture Group, Menlo Ventures, Foundry Group and Omers Ventures.
Petco first invested in Rover when it led a $3.5m round in 2013, before backing a $12m series C round in 2014 that was led by Menlo Ventures and which included Foundry Group and Madrona Venture Group. All four returned for a $25m series D led by TCV the following year.
Aaron Easterly, co-founder and chief executive of Rover, said: “Today’s transaction marks a key milestone in Rover’s effort to build an enduring business that will fundamentally change the pet care industry.
“Partnering with the True Wind team represents a unique opportunity to bring the unconditional love of pets to more people. A public listing will provide the capital to accelerate the expansion of core service offerings, support other pet types and continue to grow our geographic footprint.”
