BCBusiness

S p e c i a l F e a t u r e In an e€ort to make its services more accessible to pet parents, GoFetch has both Android and iOS apps. Says Cross: "Online disruption across all industries has and will continue to change growth rates, market share and valuation metrics, but startups are dependent on continued access to capital to fund losses. For this reason, we're building the business the so-called 'Canadian way' by not letting topline focus get in the way of margins, prots and ultimately shareholder value." While the young CEO did not comment on the company's end goal, the growth in the category yields well to both IPOs and strategic exits at large multiples on revenues. Earnings for publicly traded pet companies grew over 20 per cent in 2017, according to Cascadia Capital. Having access to the expertise and the resources of Vancouver's growing technolo…y sector benetted GoFetch's creation and development. "Vancouver is really well positioned to be a top startup city because we have an incredible abundance of technical talent coupled with money waiting on the sidelines wanting to be put to work in exciting companies with large upsides." Cross was born and raised in Vancouver. He studied at the UBC Sauder School of Business and New York University. Before GoFetch, he held internships in venture capital and then worked in a director-level position for a large ecommerce company. Last spring GoFetch announced it had raised over $1.4 million from a mix of local angel investors and venture capitalists. The company has raised more since, but Cross did not disclose exact amounts or from whom. According to CB Insights, between 2012 and 2016, as much as US$486 million was invested in the global pet tech sector across 172 deals. "We're the rst Canadian brand of our kind and we're already seeing growth rates that add validation that there's massive demand for products/services like ours," says Cross. §Operationally, GoFetch is doubling its business every quarter, growing every month and innovating its product o€erings. "The opportunity to build a $30-million business in Canada alone in the next ve years is within our grasp," Cross estimates. That potential for expansion and an appealing workplace culture has made GoFetch attractive for people looking for work—the rm is rated ve stars on the company review site Glassdoor.com, and Cross holds a 100-per-cent CEO rating. In the past year, over 1,000 people applied to work at the company. Director of engineering Piers MacDonald and senior vice-president Deep Singh both left senior roles at consumer technolo…y companies to join the GoFetch team. MacDonald had worked at tech giants such as Microsoft and Plenty of Fish. Singh moved with his wife from India, where he was senior director of operations for Ola, one of the world's leading ride-sharing apps, valued at US$7 billion. The rapid growth and optimistic future of GoFetch.ca has not eroded the company's original mandate to o€er quality service while still managing to have fun at work. "I dance into work every day," says Cross. "I love it —and I am condent I speak for the rest of the team." When asked what GoFetch can do to turn his company into a household name like Uber or Airbnb, he shrugs it o€. "People knew about IBM before they knew about Apple," he says. "Sometimes it takes a little longer for better to win." He adds, "We don't need to take the world by storm. We just need to make our customers happy and when we do that, the word spreads." "It's been a growing business for us," he says. "It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. You need to make that sort of commitment and investment up front." ª P r O M O T E D c O n T E n T Co-founder and CEO Willson Cross with head of security Samba; office greeter Maple (opposite page) takes a break

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