Rover Reports Strong First Quarter Data Showing Signs of Rapid Acceleration and Post-Pandemic Recovery
SEATTLE, April 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Rover.com, the world's largest online marketplace for pet care, released key data signaling significant demand for pet services in the first quarter of 2021. The findings highlight the company's growth trajectory, which has been impacted by the return to travel and the phenomenon of "pandemic puppies."
"Delivering trusted care for both new pet parents and those returning to travel is an essential part of furthering Rover's mission," said Rover CEO, Aaron Easterly. "We are encouraged to see that pet parents are turning to Rover to find loving care for their furry family members."
New pet care bookings on Rover have returned to pre-pandemic levels. During the last week of March 2021, Rover had its highest volume week of new bookings since Christmas 2019, and significantly more new bookings than any week in 2020.
Pet parents are planning for travel:
Rover saw both an increase in the duration of bookings on the platform and the time between booking and the service being delivered. This is typically tied to overnight services such as pet boarding and house sitting.
- Stay length for overnight services is returning to seasonal norms: the average stay length in Q1 2019 and 2021 was ~4 nights.
- Requests for services are being made further in advance: the median lead time for pet care requests in March 2021 was up ~15% over March 2019.
Pandemic puppies fuel growth in pet care services:
Pet ownership and spending per pet has been steadily rising in the US over the past several years, but in 2020, the rate of US pet adoptions nearly quadrupled to 35% compared to 9% in 2019. The "pandemic puppy" boom is a real phenomenon and is one of the many growth drivers for Rover.
- Of all the new pet profiles added to the Rover platform in Q1 of 2021, the percentage of puppies is up 38% over Q1 2019. Existing Rover users added ~30% more puppies to their profiles in Q1 of 2021 than they did in Q1 of 2019.
- In March 2021, new customer bookings for puppies were up 24% relative to the same period in 2019.
- New customer daycare bookings for puppies in Q1 2021 was up 64% over the same period in 2019, a historic high.
Growth in pet care bookings was strong across the United States:
While the exact rate of recovery continues to vary somewhat by locale, Rover is seeing strong growth across all of the most populated states:
- For all bookings, California, Florida, New York and Texas are up 45%, 42%, 44% and 69% respectively month-over-month from February to March. Historically, the seasonal trend is about a 20% increase during the same timeframe.
"For so many of us, our pets have been an important source of love and support through the pandemic, and Rover continues to help pet-parents love and support them back," said Adam Clammer, CEO of Caravel and Founding Partner of True Wind Capital.
In February 2021, Rover announced plans to become a public company via a merger with Nebula Caravel Acquisition Corp.(Nasdaq: NEBC) ("Caravel"). Caravel is a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company sponsored by True Wind Capital.
About Rover
Founded in 2011 and based in Seattle, Rover is the world's largest online marketplace for pet care. Rover connects pet parents with caring pet care providers who offer overnight services, including boarding and in-home pet sitting, as well as daytime services, including doggy daycare, dog walking, drop-in visits, and grooming. Millions of pet parents have booked a service on Rover, with more than 500,000 pet care providers across North America and Europe.
About Nebula Caravel Acquisition Corp.
Nebula Caravel Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: NEBC) ("Caravel") is a blank check company sponsored by True Wind Capital and led by Adam H. Clammer and James H. Greene, Jr., who serve as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, respectively, formed for the purpose of partnering with one high-quality technology business. Caravel follows Nebula Acquisition Corporation's successful merger with Open Lending in June 2020.
About True Wind Capital
True Wind Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on investing in leading technology companies. True Wind has a broad investing mandate, with deep industry expertise across software, data analytics, tech-enabled services, internet, financial technology, and hardware. Rover will be True Wind's 8th platform investment.
Important Information and Where to Find It
This press release relates to the proposed merger involving Nebula Caravel Acquisition Corp. ("Caravel") and A Place for Rover, Inc. ("Rover"). Caravel intends to file a Registration Statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, which will include a proxy statement and prospectus of Caravel and an information statement of Rover, and each party will file other documents with the SEC regarding the proposed transaction. A definitive proxy statement/prospectus/information statement will also be sent to the stockholders of Caravel and Rover, seeking any required stockholder approvals. Before making any voting or investment decision, investors and securityholders of Caravel and Rover are urged to carefully read the entire registration statement and proxy statement/prospectus/information, when they become available, and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, as well as any amendments or supplements to these documents, because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction. The documents filed by Caravel with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, these documents, when available, can be obtained free of charge from Caravel upon written request to Nebula Caravel Acquisition Corp., Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 2100, San Francisco, California 94111.
Participants in the Solicitation
Caravel, Rover and certain of their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of Caravel, in favor of the approval of the merger. Information regarding Caravel's directors and executive officers is contained in the section of Caravel's Form S-1 titled "Management", which was filed with the SEC on November 20, 2020. Additional information regarding the interests of those participants and other persons who may be deemed participants in the transaction may be obtained by reading the registration statement and the proxy statement/prospectus/information statement and other relevant documents filed with the SEC when they become available. Free copies of these documents may be obtained as described in the preceding paragraph.
No Offer or Solicitation
This press release does not constitute a solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the proposed transaction. This press release also does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor will there be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such other jurisdiction. No offering of securities will be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, but not limited to, Caravel's and Rover's expectations or predictions of future financial or business performance or conditions. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements may be preceded by, followed by or include the words "believes," "estimates," "expects," "projects," "forecasts," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "plans," "scheduled," "anticipates" or "intends" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. Certain of these risks are identified and discussed in the section of Caravel's Form S-1 titled "Risk Factors" which was filed with the SEC on November 20, 2020. These risk factors will be important to consider in determining future results and should be reviewed in their entirety. These forward-looking statements are based on Caravel's or Rover's management's current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. However, there can be no assurance that the events, results or trends identified in these forward-looking statements will occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and neither Caravel nor Rover is under any obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update, alter or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers should carefully review the statements set forth in the reports, which Caravel has filed or will file from time to time with the SEC.
In addition to factors previously disclosed in Caravel's reports filed with the SEC and those identified elsewhere in this press release, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements or historical performance: risks and uncertainties related to the inability of the parties to successfully or timely consummate the merger, including the risk that any required regulatory approvals or stockholder approvals of Caravel or Rover are not obtained, are delayed or are subject to unanticipated conditions that could adversely affect the combined company or the expected benefits of the merger is not obtained, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the merger, risks related to Rover's ability to execute on its business strategy, attract and retain users, develop new offerings, enhance existing offerings, compete effectively, and manage growth and costs, the duration and global impact of COVID-19, the number of redemption requests made by Caravel's public stockholders, the ability of the combined company to meet Nasdaq's listing standards (or the standards of any other securities exchange on which securities of the public entity are listed) following the merger, the inability to complete the private placement of common stock of Caravel to certain institutional accredited investors, the risk that the announcement and consummation of the transactions disrupts Rover's current plans and operations, costs related to the transactions, the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Caravel, Rover, or any of their respective directors or officers, following the announcement of the transactions, the ability of Caravel's or the combined company to issue equity or equity-linked securities in connection with the proposed business combination or in the future, the failure to realize anticipated pro forma results and underlying assumptions, including with respect to estimated stockholder redemptions and purchase price and other adjustments; and those factors discussed in documents of Caravel filed, or to be filed, with SEC.
Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements can be found in Caravel's most recent reports on Form 8-K, which are available, free of charge, at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, and will also be provided in the Registration Statement on Form S-4 and Caravel's proxy statement/prospectus/information statement when available. Any financial projections in this press release are forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond Caravel's and Rover's control. While all projections are necessarily speculative, Caravel and Rover believe that the preparation of prospective financial information involves increasingly higher levels of uncertainty the further out the projection extends from the date of preparation. The assumptions and estimates underlying the projected results are inherently uncertain and are subject to a wide variety of significant business, economic and competitive risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the projections. The inclusion of projections in this press release should not be regarded as an indication that Caravel and Rover, or their representatives, considered or consider the projections to be a reliable prediction of future events.
Annualized, pro forma, projected and estimated numbers are used for illustrative purpose only, are not forecasts and may not reflect actual results.
This press release is not intended to be all-inclusive or to contain all the information that a person may desire in considering an investment in Caravel and is not intended to form the basis of an investment decision in Caravel. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning Caravel and Rover, the proposed transaction or other matters and attributable to Caravel and Rover or any person acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above
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SOURCE True Wind Capital
