Company:BarkBox

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BarkBox, Inc.
BarkBox logo.svg
Type of businessE-commerce, subscription service
HeadquartersNew York City , United States
Area servedUSA and Canada
CEOMatt Meeker
Employees350
Websitewww.barkbox.com
LaunchedDecember 2011; 12 years ago (2011-12)

Bark & Co. (BarkBox) is a New York-based provider of dog products and technology known for its monthly subscription service BarkBox, which has approximately 600,000 monthly subscribers.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The company also operates the dog-themed content site BarkPost, the photo-sharing app BarkCam, and BarkBuddy, a "Tinder for Dogs."[8][9][10]

History

The company was founded in December 2011 by Matt Meeker and others.[1][2][6] Prior to co-founding BarkBox, Meeker co-founded the social networking site Meetup.com.[1][7][9]

The company rebranded to Bark & Co. in April 2013 after raising $6.7M in venture funding.[6][9][11] The company surpassed the $25 million revenue run rate the same year.[11] Bark & Co. received an additional $15 Million in Series B funding led by Resolute.vc, along with RRE, BoxGroup, Lerer Ventures, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Slow Ventures, Daher Capital, CAA, Vast Ventures, and City National Bank in 2014.[3][4]

Forbes Magazine named BarkBox as the one of the top 20 companies to follow on social media.[12] Bark & Co. launched BarkCam in early 2014, a photo sharing app which operates as an "Instagram for dogs" and their owners.[10]

Products and services

  • BarkBox, is a monthly subscription service which caters to dogs and “dog parents.”[9]
  • BarkPost is a dog-themed content site similar to BuzzFeed's “Cute” section.[7][13][13] The site has over 3M unique visitors each month.[11]
  • BarkCam is a photo-sharing app, similar to a dog version of Instagram, available for iOS.[10] Users can choose from a variety of built-in sounds, designed to grab the pets' attention, which users activate by tapping the camera shutter.[3] Users can then add text, filters, stickers and chat bubbles to the photo to share on social media platforms.[10]
  • BarkBuddy is similar to a "Tinder for dogs," as users can swipe left or right depending on their level of interest in the dog.[8][14] The free app, available for iPhone and Android,[15] is designed to match humans with dogs up for adoption at nearby shelters, and users can filter choices by gender, location, activity level, age, and size.[15] The app is connected to rescue centers and shelters across the United States and Canada, and there are approximately 300,000 dogs in the database.[8][14][15] The app sources many of its adoptable dogs from the pet adoption website Petfinder and from Bark & Co’s personal network of shelters and rescue organizations.[14]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sarah E. Needleman (22 March 2013). "Are You Ready to Go From Founder to Top Dog". Wall Street Journal. https://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2013/03/22/are-you-ready-to-go-from-founder-to-top-dog/. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Sadie Whitelocks (19 September 2013). "Mail dogs CAN get their teet into!". Daily Mail UK. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2425412/BarkBox-subscription-service-dogs-delivers-bones-squeaky-toys.html. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sarah Perez (11 July 2014). "Doggie-Focused Bark & Co (BarkBox) Raises $15 Million Series B". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/11/barkbox-series-b/. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Dan Primack (14 July 2014). "Deals of the day: Mylan finds its tax inversion partner". Fortune. http://fortune.com/2014/07/14/deals-of-the-day-mylan-finds-its-tax-inversion-partner/. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 
  5. Sheila Marikar (11 July 2014). "Turning 'Likes' Into a Career". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/fashion/social-media-stars-use-instagram-twitter-and-tumblr-to-build-their-career.html?_r=0. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 "BarkBox Founder Matt Meeker is Building A Community for Man’s Best Friend". The Huffington Post. 28 July 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fueled/barkbox-founder-matt-meek_b_4223439.html. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Alyson Shontell (10 July 2013). "BarkBox Generates $1 Million Per Month, Wants To Become A $5 Billion Company in 5 Years". Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/barkbox-revenue-and-barkcare-2013-6. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Laura Stampler (20 May 2014). "Sick of the People on Dating Apps? Now There's a Tinder for Dogs". Time. http://time.com/132095/tinder-for-dogs/. Retrieved 29 July 2014. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Lauren Drell (20 August 2013). "Top Dog: BarkBox's Mission to Reinvent the Pet Industry". Mashable. http://mashable.com/2013/08/20/scaling-smarter-barkbox/. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Karissa Bell (Jul 16, 2014). "BarkCam Helps the Pet-Obsessed Take Better Dog Portraits". Mashable. http://mashable.com/2014/07/16/barkcam-app/. Retrieved 28 July 2014. 
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Erin Griffith (Oct 25, 2013). "Mock all you want: Barbox is laughing all the way to the bank". PandoDaily. http://pando.com/2013/10/25/mock-all-you-want-barkbox-is-laughing-all-the-way-to-the-bank/. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014. 
  12. Ilya Pozin (6 March 2014). "20 Companies You Should Be Following on Social Media". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2014/03/06/20-companies-you-should-be-following-on-social-media/. Retrieved 6 August 2014. 
  13. 13.0 13.1 Jillian D’Onfro (Oct 2013). "BarkBox Adds Media-Maven and ‘Dog Parent’ Cathie Black TO Its Board". Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/barkbox-adds-media-maven-and-dog-parent-cathie-black-to-its-board-2013-10. Retrieved Jul 28, 2014. 
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Kelly Faircloth (May 27, 2014). "There’s Finally a Tinder for Adoptable Dogs". Jezebel. http://jezebel.com/theres-finally-a-tinder-for-adoptable-dogs-1582201953. Retrieved Aug 6, 2014. 
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Amy Eley (May 29, 2014). "Tinder for dogs? BarkBuddy app matches pet lovers with local rescues". Today. http://www.today.com/pets/tinder-dogs-barkbuddy-app-matches-pet-lovers-local-rescues-2D79730864. Retrieved Aug 6, 2014.