Dog Parker

Dog Parker builds high-tech dog houses, and places them outside of retail stores.

This enables dog owners to shop while safely leaving their pet outside.

There are more than 80 million dogs in the U.S. And 40 million dogs accompany their owners on walking errands.

But more than half of the retail establishments in the U.S. are legally prohibited from allowing dogs inside.

This means dog owners are forced either to leave their pet at home, or leave them unguarded outside a store. Often, owners simply bypass stores that don’t allow dogs, meaning businesses lose money.

Dog Parker’s houses provide a solution to this problem.

Here’s how it works:

Customers use the free Dog Parker mobile app to search for dog houses outside retail establishments like grocery stores or coffee shops.

Once at the location, owners unlock the house using the mobile app and pay 30 cents per minute, or a $50 annual membership.

The houses are climate controlled and provide secure access with an automatic lock. Owners even have the ability to manually unlock the house in case of an emergency.

In addition, each house comes with a “puppy cam,” which allows owners to view their pet via the mobile app.

(The houses are built by Boyce Technologies, a manufacturing company that's previously worked with Amtrak and the New York City Transit Authority.)

Once an owner is finished with the dog house, a UV light automatically sanitizes it. The houses also undergo daily maintenance and cleaning checks in case of "accidents."

In addition to earning revenue from pet owners, Dog Parker charges storefronts a $50 monthly licensing fee to have a house installed outside its business.

In addition, Dog Parker aims to generate sponsorship revenue, similar to Citibank’s bike-share program in New York.

Dog Parker is a graduate of the Entrepreneur’s Roundtable Tech Accelerator, a program that’s guided several start-ups that went on to achieve success. For example:

Parking Panda is a mobile parking app that has partnerships with Amtrak and Major League Baseball, and Triplemint is a real estate app whose investors include Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

In November 2015, Dog Parker launched a pilot program in New York with its prototype. Over the next two years, the company raised $2 million in funding and, as of October 2017, has 45 Dog Parker houses in New York City.

Dog Parker now has 730 members and is growing at a monthly rate of 30%.

Dog Parker offered discounted rates to its first users. That explains why the company has generated just $5,000 in revenue so far.

However, based on its internal forecasts, if the units were used an hour per day, each house would generate more than $6,000 in annual revenue, with 67% profit margins.

The company believes it will reach this goal by summer 2018, as its houses located at grocery stores are already used an average of 30 minutes per day.

By December 2018, Dog Parker aims to become profitable, with 2,000 houses in three markets.

Its long-term vision is to be available in more than 60 cities in the U.S., including Boston, San Francisco and Miami.

Team Background

Chelsea Brownridge - Co-Founder & CEO

Before starting Dog Parker, Chelsea was the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Ignite Good. This was a program designed to help college students and people in their 20s complete volunteer projects in their community.

Prior to that, Chelsea spent time as an operations consultant for Fenton Communications.

Chelsea was formerly the Director of Operations for Ashoka Changemakers, a company helping young entrepreneurs grow their business ideas. While there, she developed the company’s policy initiatives and was responsible for managing the company’s budget.

Chelsea was a former financial consultant for IBM. While there, she helped businesses keep track of their financial planning and her client list included divisions of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Chelsea received a Master’s degree in Public Administration from NYU.

Todd Schechter - Co-Founder & COO

Todd is the Founder and Lead Trainer of PurposeFuel, an eight-week workshop program for start-ups.

In addition, Todd was the former Co-Founder of Ignite Good, where he worked with current co-worker Chelsea Brownridge to help college students complete volunteer projects in their community.

Todd is formerly a project associate for Standard and Poor’s, a financial services company. While there, he served on a six-person team to develop S&P’s first branded financial literacy program.

Todd is a former associate with Criterion Ventures, a consulting firm. While there, he focused on marketing strategies for his clients.

He formerly served as a documentary producer.

Todd received a Master’s degree in Public and Non-Profit Management from NYU.

Randy Ramusack - Co-Founder & Chief Resource Officer

Randy is the former Executive Director for Urban Technology for Verizon. While there, he spent time developing a series of digital kiosks to serve urban areas.

Randy formerly founded LQD Wifi, a company building “smart hubs” for urban areas. LQD was acquired by Verizon in November 2016.

For two years, Randy served as Partner for Yoxi, a media platform where entrepreneurs can share ideas about projects.

Randy spent more than 15 years with Microsoft, including seven years as a chief technology officer at the company’s Switzerland division.

Randy received a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of Wisconsin.

Co-Investors

Winklevoss Capital

Venture fund founded by the Winklevoss twins. Investments include AngelList, Carbon38, MeUndies and Shyp.

Halogen Ventures

Early-stage venture capital fund founded by Jesse Draper and focused on female-founded companies. Portfolio includes HopSkipDrive (service that helps parents transport their kids to activities) and Laurel & Wolf (interior design company).