Former mytaxi boss joins pet subscription firm ITCH as it raises £7.25m

British subscription-based pet wellbeing firm ITCH has secured £7.25m in early stage investment, paving the way for it to expand into the £4.5bn global pet insurance market.

In a round led by YYX Capital, the direct-to-consumer pet care service raised the cash injection from Accel Partners and Seedcamp, taking the total investment to £12.25m.

ITCH launched in July 2019 with a monthly flea and worming home delivery service. Via the ITCH app, pet owners are sent a reminder when it’s time to administer treatment, delivered directly to their door every month.

Headquartered in Leeds, the direct to consumer business will use the funding to launch in the US, expand into the pet insurance sector and fuel further development of its data platform so it is best placed to serve pets and their owners.

New to the team is former mytaxi boss Andrew Pinnington, who takes on the role of Chief Executive Officer and will lead a US expansion next year.

Pinnington headed up mytaxi and Hailo for 3.5 years from 2014, during which time he turned the business around from a low base, and subsequently exited a majority interest to BMW (& Daimler) in 2018.

Prior to this, he spent 12 years at Carphone Warehouse, transitioning through a variety of roles, ultimately culminating in the position of Chief Operating Officer.

With a monthly customer growth rate of 10-20%, the pet wellbeing firm reports it is on track to reach around £10m in annual recurring by year end.