TrustedHousesitters has reached the milestone of 100,000 pet sitters and owners on its platform.
The business, founded in 2010 and based in Brighton, East Sussex, connects owners with a worldwide community of pet-loving sitters to make sure owners’ animals are cared for while they travel.
Members purchase an ‘owner plan’ subscription to the site rather than paying the pet-sitter directly, and can leave feedback and reviews on the service received. TrustedHousesitters’ membership has grown by 25% since March 2020 to 100,000, with a boom in new members following the pandemic. Revenue from new members joining is at four times the pre-pandemic levels, and the business is currently the largest pet-sitting platform in the UK and the third largest globally.
Since its inception, the firm has facilitated more than four million nights of pet-sitting across 130 countries, and is now aiming to double its revenue in 2022. With its sights set on becoming the world’s favourite vacation pet-sitting service, the company recently raised $10million to fund its US expansion and has just finalised a partnership with US Charity Helen Woodwards Animal Center.
Chief executive Matthew Prior said: “This is an exciting milestone for us following a period of uncertainty for all businesses, particularly those in the travel sector. Not only has the sheer number of pets to be cared for increased massively, but the pandemic brought on a huge acceleration in the shift towards digital nomad employees, meaning that people can travel and pursue their passions while working, and we’ve observed a gradual shift in retirees also pursuing their desire to travel.
“These multitude of factors have turbo-charged our growth and we’re ambitious for our future plans to roll out our services to even more pet-loving members.”
