US-based dog-walking app provider Wag is set to receive up to $300m from SoftBank Vision Fund, the $97.7bn investment vehicle created by telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank, Recode reported on Friday.
Wag had initially targeted $100m for its next funding round and already secured a commitment for at least some of that amount from an undisclosed venture capital firm, an unnamed source told Recode. The deal has not yet closed.
Founded in 2014, Wag operates a mobile marketplace that enables dog owners to connect with local certified dog walkers and dogsitters.
Owners can track their pet through GPS, while walkers and sitters can share photographs in the app. The platform is geared toward people with a busy lifestyle and also offers on-demand services and recurring appointment options.
Reports about the round first emerged in October this year, at a time when Wag was fighting bad press for losing a dog that was eventually found covered in cuts and tick bites by a walker unrelated to Wag.
The story caused several potential investors to withdraw from the round, Bloomberg reported. Wag had previously secured in funding $40m in April 2017, according to deals database PitchBook.
Sources told TechCrunch in March 2017 that General Catalyst had led a $4m round for Wag at an unspecified date in 2016 before fellow VC firm Sherpa Ventures invested $15m sometime during autumn the same year.
Wag had previously received $2.45m in seed funding from Freestyle Capital, CrunchFund, Greylock Partners, Ludlow Ventures, RRE Ventures, Slow Ventures, Social Leverage and Structure Capital in 2015.