Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund has agreed to sell a stake in US-based petsitting service Wag back to the company, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
Wag operates a mobile app-based platform that offers on-demand dog walking and petsitting that can span 20-minute drop-ins to longer-term care across multiple days or nights at either the contractor or the customer’s home.
Vision Fund provided $300m of funding for Wag in January 2018 at a reported $650m valuation, expanding a round the company had originally intended to be about $100m in size. It is selling at a loss, a person familiar with the deal told the FT.
The transaction comes after reports in October this year that the company was exploring options for an acquisition. It has encountered negative publicity in recent months surrounding reports of lost or injured pets.
Wag told its employees yesterday that it was “amicably parting ways” with SoftBank as part of a restructuring process that will also involve a reduction in staff numbers. CEO Hilary Schneider resigned late last month after almost two years in the position.
The company has raised a total of $368m in primary funding, including $40m in a 2017 round led by venture capital firm Battery Ventures.
Sherpa Ventures, General Catalyst, Freestyle Capital, Tuesday Capital, Greylock, Ludlow Ventures, RRE Ventures, Slow Ventures, Social Leverage and Structure Capital all invested in the company at an earlier stage.
