ATLANTA — Level 5 Capital Partners, a consumer growth equity firm, has invested $20 million in GoDog, a provider of pet services.
The investment “will jumpstart the company’s franchising platform as it aims to scale from a premium regional player to a dominant nationwide name in pet hospitality,” according to a press release.
Founded in 2018 by father-son duo Jess and Ben Eberdt, GoDog is a dog boarding and daycare concept located in the Southeastern U.S. The company has three locations in Durham, Nashville and Chattanooga “with the potential for hundreds of locations nationwide thanks to its superior brand and de novo franchising program launching in 2023,” according to the release.
More from the release:
Level 5 has been eyeing the pet industry for quite some time, excited by the space’s explosive growth over the past few years, but patiently waiting to partner with the correct team and brand. GoDog’s unit model and management team ultimately fit the bill. Unsatisfied by the existing offerings at the time and recognizing the massive market opportunity at hand, the Eberdts built a business that prioritizes quality care, cleanliness and fun for both pets and owners.
“Now more so than ever, pets are considered members of the family. GoDog has gone to great lengths to create an experience with every detail in mind to assure pet parents that their animals will be provided the most comfortable and enjoyable stay possible,” explained Ben. “We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Level 5 as GoDog embarks on this new phase of growth.”
Principal at Level 5, Duane LeVine, shared, “The Level 5 team has been quite impressed with the brand Ben, Jess and team have created thus far. In a highly fragmented and competitive sector, GoDog has managed to distinguish themselves from the pack. We believe with support from L5, combined with the existing brand and unit model strength, GoDog can scale to become the premier provider of pet services in the U.S.”
A testament to this confidence in the brand, Level 5 has committed to building its own GoDog franchisee platform, L5 Pups. Level 5 Managing Partner, Chris Kenny, explained, “L5 is energized by the prospect of becoming an anchor GoDog franchisee. With a nascent franchisor program at a market leader like GoDog, we are thrilled to get another bite at the apple, so to speak, by investing at both the franchisor and franchisee level. We look forward to serving as strategic partners to Ben, Jess and the team as we continue to build upon GoDog’s track record of success.”
About Level 5 Capital Partners
L5 was founded in 2009 by Fortune 100 technology executives to invest in high-end health and wellness brand leaders with a focus on consumer services. L5 approaches the health, wellness, and family services sectors with a unique operational focus. L5 brings a 40-person proprietary operating team alongside its investment capabilities. We focus on investing in early-growth franchisors as well as large scale multi-unit franchisees.
L5 brings expertise and capital to exceptional entrepreneurs. L5 looks to identify opportunities where we can drive rapid growth and scale in local services, with a focus on the health, wellness & family markets. L5 leverages our expertise, capital, and local services platform to scale partner companies and their management teams. Core to our investment thesis is investing in highly targeted real estate and customer-focused management teams to enable them to manage businesses significantly greater than the size of the initially acquired business. Local service businesses require a consistent, local focus on human capital in addition to sound operating practices. The combination of human capital investment and market expansion investment enabled by technology and process deliver excellent value creation over time.
For more information on Level 5, please visit: https://www.lfivecapital.com/
About Level 5 Capital Partners GoDog
GoDog, founded in 2018 by Jess and Ben Eberdt defines premier pet hospitality as providing high-end, convenient, forward thinking pet service offerings for the modern pet owner. Services include pet boarding, daycare, obedience training, bathing and grooming services, veterinarian services and now GoDog:SOCIAL, a membership-based dog park and bar social experience. GoDog strives to be the ultimate dog-destination and community resource for pet owners. GoDog continues to build a deep knowledge of the pet market via hands-on experience in multiple successful operations as well as years of experience in this space as investors since 2007. Together, with the expertise of industry veteran and VP of Operations, Channon Hasch, the GoDog team has built a proven model showcasing how conveniently located, state-of-the-art facilities, attention to detail and a heightened level of care can create a rewarding everyday experience for pets, their owners, employees and investors.
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