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DogVacay Lands $6M In Series A

DogVacay, the online marketplace which lets pet owners connect with others to find dog boarding, has raised $6M in a Series A round, the firm announced this morning. The funding came from Benchmark Capital, and comes on top of earlier, seed funding from First Round Capital, Science Inc., and others. As part of the funding, Benchmark's Bill Gurley joins the company's board of directors, and Bob Kagle at Benchmark will become and advisor to the company. Los Angeles-based DogVacay, which is headed by Aaron Hirschorn, lets users connect with others to board their dogs, finding other owners, sitters, and others who care for those dogs in their homes. DogVacay said it will use the funding to build its team, user experience, and expand into other areas and eventually, overseas.

The funding from Benchmark is significant, given Benchmark's track record with other "marketplace businesses. Aaron Hirschhorn said that the company was particularly pleased by the investment from Benchmark, which has invested in similar, marketplace companies, such as eBay, OpenTable, Uber, Yelp, GrubHub, and Zillow. He also said investors were "pleasantly surprised" with the company, after they were able to see the early traction, strong growth, and how DogVacay is solving a real problem in the marketplace.

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