Rover is an online app that offers pet services, such as dog walking. Founders Greg Gottesman, Aaron Easterly, & Philip Kimmey came up with the idea and won an app startup contest in 2011. The company launched its mobile app later that same year.
The company began by creating a marketplace for dog sitting and boarding services. Over the next four years, they expanded to offer dog walking, doggy daycare, and drop-in visits. Every sitter on the platform is an independent contractor and is not an employee of Rover.com. In 2017 Rover.com began its Quick Match dog walking service, enabling owners to instantly book a dog walker.
The company earns money by taking a percentage of each booking made on its site, which is generally from 15-20% for dog sitting/boarding services up to 40% for its Quick Match walking service.
Thousands of millennials are taking advantage of this carefree way of earning cash without keeping regular hours or having to deal with bosses or co-workers, with some people saying they earn more than $3,000 a month using the app.
Clients for the company have more than doubled in the past two years, even though there was one report of the accidental death of a disabled dog.
Rover states that it hires only trusted personnel but at least 6 people have claimed that their dogs died or went missing after using Rover services.
Headquarters for Rover.Com continue to operate out of Seattle, Washington.
