Cat sitting: a booming market?
As the Airbnb for cat sitting, Cat in a Flat, celebrates the milestone of $1 million monthly GBV (gross booking volume), one can say so.
Cat in a Flat is one of the largest cat sitting communities in Europe. Started in 2015, the service was started by two female co-founders (Kathrin Burckhardt and Julie Barnes) and it has accumulated over 100,000 5-star reviews from 1 million days of cat sitting through the platform.
Although the service is available in 8 countries (UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium and Switzerland), the company’s biggest markets are the UK and Germany.
Founder Kathrin Burckhardt shares: “Cat sitting is a hidden opportunity, over 20% of households across Europe have cats, as many as people who jog. We are the Adidas of the cat sitting world.”
The business is mainly bootstrapped, with the founders owning 84% of shares.