The On Demand Weekly #15

The pet industry has increased in the past few years, with an estimated $60.59 billion expenditure projected for 2015. This growth has brought a variety of specialized pet services and products, largely the result of a “pet parenting” attitude among owners. One such startup is Wag, which currently raised a $2.45M in the seed funding, and is working towards the mission of making it easier for all dog lovers to own a dog

Juggernaut’s Insight:

A popular on-demand ride company, Sidecar, is now offering medical marijuana delivery.
The Mumbai-based on-demand food delivery startup, Box8 has raised $3.5 Mn funding from Silicon Valley-based early-stage venture capital firm Mayfield.

Industry News

Zomato unbundles food delivery, launches a separate app- Zomato Order

Zomato started food delivery in NCR (National Capital Region) in April and users had an option to order food from restaurants using the main app. After a month, Zomato has now unbundled the feature and has launched a separate app- Zomato Order.

On-Demand Laundry Service Cleanly Hangs Up $2.3 Million In Seed Funding

Cleanly, the YC-backed on-demand company focused on handling your laundry (and dry-cleaning) as soon as you need it done, has today announced the close of a $2.3 million seed round.

On Demand Laundry Service Startup Wassup Raises $2 Mn Pre-Series A Funding From Jabong Founders

When on-demand is the new buzz word, it is for reason that investors won’t be wooed. From cabs’ availability to grocery shopping, everything seems to be moving to an on-demand model, a term first coined by the IT industry, now loosely used by the e-commerce fraternity.

Eye-Opener

‘Food in India is a big deal’ – foodtech startup insights from Just Eat and CookAss

With new players like CookAss getting into the fray with such enthusiasm, it looks like foodtech will indeed become a badass sector in India!

SMS and the on-demand economy: 5 ways to perfect the match

Whatever it is you need, whether a lift to the airport, a valet to materialize out of nowhere and park your car, or help cleaning out the garage, you need not wait long. We live in an era of the on-demand economy where technology delivers – and quickly.

How big data is driving the sharing economy

In the collaborative economy, it’s not the idea of sharing that’s new; people have been doing that for eons. What’s different now is the introduction of technology into the concept – particularly easy-to-use digital technologies like location-based GPS that allow people to quickly make and respond to requests for goods and services.

Industry Experts

No, You Don’t Own The Customer Anymore – The New Age of SaaS Competition

Much has been written by VC’s about building “full stack startups,” “owning the customer with a strategic product” and finding the “killer app to build a platform on.” One interesting phenomenon we’re seeing is that an increasing number of users don’t need or want you to be “full stack” at all.

Success Story

Aaron Easterly on how Rover.com is connecting Dog Parents with Dog Sitters

Rover.com, an online marketplace for dog lovers, is graciously connecting Dog Parents with Dog Sitters in the most transparent and vigilant environment. With 24X7 customer support, premium pet insurance and reservation guarantee, this promising startup is expanding its reach in every part of the US. In conversation with Aaron Easterly, Co-founder and CEO of Rover.com.