Rover, a US-based dog walking service backed by pet supplies provider Petco, secured $125m in equity funding yesterday, in a round led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price.
Venture capital firms Cross Creek, Greenspring Associates and Spark Capital also took part in the round, as did growth equity firms Winslow Capital Management and TCV. The equity funding came alongside a $30m credit facility supplied by Silicon Valley Bank.
Rover offers services such as dog walking and short and long-term pet sitting through a network of more than 200,000 sitters.
The latest funding will support the introduction of new services, the growth of Rover’s 375-strong team to about 500 by the end of 2018, and an expansion into Europe, beginning with a launch in the UK in July this year.
The round boosted Rover’s equity funding to $281m since it was founded in 2011, though CEO Aaron Easterly told GeekWire the company has not yet reached a $1bn valuation.
Petco first invested in Rover as part of a $3.5m round it led in 2013, and also participated in a $12m series C round in 2014 together with Menlo Ventures, Foundry Group and Madrona Venture Group.
Rover added $25m in a TCV-led series D round the following year that included Petco as well as Foundry Group, Madrona and Menlo Ventures, all three of which returned for a $40m series E round in late 2016.
Spark Capital led the company’s last round, a $65m series E in July 2017 featuring Madrona, TCV, Menlo Ventures, Foundry Group, Bespoke Strategies, StepStone Group and Omers Ventures.