--- title: Pampered pets make for great startup customers - The Hustle description: Barkbus has been able to expand from two to 55 vans since 2017 because, well, we love our pets. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1566917846-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2026202023barkbus.webp --- # Pampered pets make for great startup customers ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: June 02, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 Every dog has its day, but what about a *spa day*? ![Pampered pets make for great startup customers](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1566917846-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2026202023barkbus.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1566917846-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2026202023barkbus.webp) California-based [Barkbus](https://www.barkbus.com/) brings the spa, contained inside a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, to the dog. There’s also a mid-groom photoshoot — perhaps with a soapy mohawk or [Princess Leia towel-buns](https://www.instagram.com/p/COdW2tKM5TA/) — and yeah, it’s adorable. Part of Bay Area startup studio Wilbur Labs, Barkbus expanded from just two vans in LA to 55 across SoCal and Dallas since its founding in 2017. **Out of the salon, into your driveway** Barkbus CEO Jeff Safenowitz, formerly of WeWork, said he and founder Patrick Riley, entrepreneur and former guitarist for The Ataris, identified the pain points of brick-and-mortar salons: **For customers:** Leaving their dog at a busy shop where they may be caged and surrounded by other noisy dogs, which can stress them out. **For groomers:** Feeling rushed at a hectic big-box retailer, or navigating the challenges of running their own business. Barkbus groomers are full-time employees with benefits, who average just four dogs per day. They go straight to customers’ homes, where dogs receive detailed, one-on-one attention; one groomer even discovered a cancerous tumor on a pet’s leg. “Our favorite thing is when customers say, ‘My dog’s never been able to get groomed, and all of a sudden Barkbus shows up now and he’s running to the van licking your groomer’s face,’” Safenowitz told us. **Mobile grooming isn’t new…** … but Barkbus elevates the experience with tech and personalized touches, like an online booking system and reminder postcards featuring images of customers’ pets. More broadly, consumers are spending more on both online, to-your-door services (e.g., grocery delivery) *and* their pets. “I like to joke, in this day and age, dogs and cats are now our kids, and plants are now our pets,” Safenowitz said. As of 2022, spending on pets had increased [450%](https://thehustle.co/01232020-small-door-pet-subscriptions/) since 1994. The US grooming industry alone is currently worth an estimated [$5B+](https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/05/15/2668898/0/en/Pet-Grooming-Services-Market-Predicted-To-Augment-And-Reach-Over-USD-10-1-billion-by-2032-Market-us.html#:~:text=New%20York%2C%20May%2015%2C%202023,6.8%25%20from%202023%20to%202032.) and expected to exceed $10B by 2032. **You want to know if they do other animals, too, huh?** It’s up to the groomer, but [yes](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg2iFqLP-3i/). Topics: [Pets](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/pets) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Tiny pets are having a big moment](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1659500848-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Smallpets_20230927223539.webp) ### Tiny pets are having a big moment - ![Pet tech is the cat’s meow](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1174655192-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Pet20tech_20230726215142.webp) ### Pet tech is the cat’s meow - ![Your dog eats bugs for free, but now you can spend money on it](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1419080296-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-doginsect_20230705041350.webp) ### Your dog eats bugs for free, but now you can spend money on it - ![Man’s best friend may be getting a new best friend — and it’s AI?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/826433325-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay202202023dog_companion.webp) ### Man’s best friend may be getting a new best friend — and it’s AI? - ![Can machine learning help us talk to pets?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1733883667-HS-News-Brief_2022-09-13T214158.929Z-scaled.webp) ### Can machine learning help us talk to pets? - ![Looking for your next gig? Have you considered pet-sitting?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1783936752-News-Brief_2021-10-20T010201.087Z.webp) ### Looking for your next gig? Have you considered pet-sitting? - ![Meowijuana wants to get your cat high](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1292948729-News-Brief_2021-10-15T012353.109Z.webp) ### Meowijuana wants to get your cat high Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "datePublished" : "2023-06-02T23:20:40.000Z", "headline" : "Pampered pets make for great startup customers", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1566917846-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2026202023barkbus.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/pampered-pets-make-for-great-startup-customers", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:22:06+0000", "datePublished" : "2023-06-02T23:20:40+0000", "headline" : "Pampered pets make for great startup customers", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1566917846-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2026202023barkbus.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```