Pet-sitting network TrustedHousesitters has reached the major milestone of 100,000 members following a year of rapid growth.
The business, founded in 2010, aims to solve the main problem for ‘pet parents’ – how to make sure they are cared for while they travel.
It does this by connecting owners with a worldwide community of pet-loving sitters, facilitating a transaction-free value exchange between owners and sitters based on trust, not money.
Pet ownership rose significantly during the two years of the pandemic, leading to a greater demand for pet care as the world opened back up for travel. Membership growth has also been driven by a changing demand for more ethical solutions to pet care and a greater desire for sustainable and authentic travel experiences.
A rapid increase in boomer retirees’ desire for travel and the proliferation of employees working from anywhere has also impacted membership growth, the company said.
Its membership has grown by 25% since March 2020 to 100,000. Revenue from new members joining is at 4x equivalent pre-pandemic levels. The business is currently the largest pet-sitting platform in the UK and the third largest globally.
It has just finalised a partnership with a significant US charity: the Helen Woodwards Animal Center based in San Diego, California.
“This is an exciting milestone for us following a period of uncertainty for all businesses, particularly those in the travel sector,” said Mathew Prior, CEO.
“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.”
‘If you don’t feel you’re growing fast enough, you’re not growing fast enough’