Petplan

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Petplan Pet Insurance - North America
TypePrivately held
IndustryPet Insurance
Founded11 September 2003; 18 years ago (2003-09-11)
FoundersChris and Natasha Ashton
Headquarters101 Greenwich St.,
New York City, New York
,
USA
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Paul Guyardo (CEO)
Number of employees
200+
Websitegopetplan.com

Petplan Pet Insurance - North America is a New York City-based pet insurance company, providing insurance for pet owners to cover veterinary bills.

History[]

Petplan was founded in September 2003 by husband and wife entrepreneurs Chris and Natasha Ashton after experiencing a high veterinary bill.[1] They submitted a business plan for a pet insurance company called PAWS, to the 2003 annual Wharton Business Plan Competition, and were part of the team that won the $20,000 grand prize.[2] That fall, the Ashtons incorporated Fetch Inc., which in November 2003 was awarded the exclusive license for the Petplan brand in the United States.[3]

In July 2006, the company began selling its first policies,[4] and started selling policies online later that year. The company formed partnerships with animal shelters, veterinarians, and health insurance providers to help sell 120,000 policies by 2014.[5] In November 2008, the company launched fetch!, a glossy quarterly pet health magazine, in November 2008.[6]

In 2019, Petplan hired Paul Guyardo as the new CEO.[7] The same year it was acquired by private equity firm, Warburg Pincus. At the time, it had 200 employees and $130 million in annual sales.[8] Since the acquisition, the company expanded into technology including a mobile app for communication and accessing insurance plans.[9]

In 2020, The Dodo took a minority stake in Petplan with plans to change its name to Fetch by the Dodo.[9]

Products[]

Petplan offers insurance for pets in the United States. It insures cats and dogs beginning at six weeks old with annual benefits ranging $2,500 to unlimited.[10] Petplan extended its coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new service covered treatment of a covid-infected pet, boarding of a pet if an owner was infected, adding a pet guardian to a plan, and all virtual vet visits.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ "Reinvent With a Pet Business," More.com, Nov. 7, 2011. http://www.more.com/pet-business-dog-daycare-cat-business
  2. ^ "The Truth about Cats and Dogs: They're Costly," Wharton Newsletter, Spring 2003. http://wep.wharton.upenn.edu/newsletter/spring03/paws.html
  3. ^ Distefano, Joseph N. (4 April 2019). "Petplan's married founders say they were fired after she got pregnant again; Investors say sales dragged". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Pooch protection: Firm finds pet insurance is catching on," Boston.com, Nov. 26, 2006. http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/articles/2006/11/26/pooch_protection_firm_finds_pet_insurance_is_catching_on/
  5. ^ Strauss, Karsten (14 April 2014). "Dogs, Cats And A Moneymaking Machine: Meet Petplan". Forbes. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  6. ^ "The Challenge of Branching Out," Financial Times, April 3, 2010. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/07caa5a8-9f28-11df-8732-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1e4Pq78HH
  7. ^ George, John (24 January 2019). "Petplan fetches new CEO". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  8. ^ DiStefano, Joseph (October 2, 2019). "Petplan sold to private equity giant; dueling owners exit". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  9. ^ a b Patel, Sahil (2020-10-19). "The Dodo, Group Nine's Animal Brand, Is Getting Into Pet Insurance". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  10. ^ Davila, Noel; Reynolds, Paul (4 May 2021). "11 Best Pet Insurance Companies of May 2021". Money. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  11. ^ Petplan is extending coverage to members amid coronavirus pandemic, retrieved 2020-07-22

External links[]

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