Woof Gang lands Great Hill investment to fuel next growth phase
Bottom line
Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming has secured a strategic growth investment from Boston-based private equity firm Great Hill Partners, marking another ownership change for one of the fastest-growing pet grooming and specialty retail franchise brands in North America. The company has been expanding aggressively: it reported $150 million in 2025 systemwide sales, up 25% year over year, opened its 300th location in January 2026, and says it has more than 450 locations open or under development across the U.S. Pet Age first reported the deal, while Woof Gang’s recent company releases highlight a push into new states and a goal of reaching roughly 450 stores across North America by 2027. Great Hill typically backs growth-stage businesses with $100 million to $750 million investments in companies growing at 15% or more annually, suggesting Woof Gang fits its broader expansion playbook. (petage.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the investment is another sign that pet services businesses with recurring, local demand, especially grooming-led models, continue to attract institutional capital even as broader pet spending becomes more selective. Morgan Stanley recently noted that services made up more than 40% of pet industry spending in 2025, and that share is expected to keep rising, while other industry coverage has pointed to continued investor interest in service-heavy pet assets despite inflation and softer consumer sentiment. That could mean more competition for groomers and front-line talent, more sophisticated local pet-service marketing, and more referral-adjacent activity around wellness products and routine care. (morganstanley.com)
What to watch: Watch for whether Great Hill uses the investment to accelerate franchise development, add adjacent wellness or retail offerings, or pursue further consolidation in neighborhood pet services. (cms.greathillpartners.com)
Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming has landed a strategic growth investment from Great Hill Partners, bringing a new financial sponsor into one of the pet industry’s largest grooming-focused franchise platforms. The move comes as Woof Gang is scaling quickly across the U.S., with 2025 systemwide sales of $150 million, a 25% year-over-year increase, and more than 450 locations open or under development, according to recent company and trade reports. (petage.com)
The investment also represents the latest chapter in Woof Gang’s private equity-backed growth story. In June 2022, Garnett Station Partners announced its own growth investment in the company, when Woof Gang said it had more than 200 locations open or under development across 18 states and more than $125 million in run-rate system sales. Since then, the brand has roughly doubled its store count pipeline, expanded into new geographies, and continued positioning itself as a neighborhood grooming-and-retail concept rather than a traditional big-box pet store competitor. (businesswire.com)
Recent milestones help explain why the asset would attract another growth investor. In January 2026, Woof Gang said it was on track to open its 300th location and was aiming for approximately 450 stores across North America by 2027. Later that month, it confirmed the opening of that 300th store in Middleton, Florida. In May 2025, the company said it had entered its 28th state with a Seattle opening and planned to open more than 70 stores that year. Together, those announcements point to a franchise system still in rapid buildout mode, with a mix of grooming services, treats, food, and private-label retail designed to create repeat traffic. (petage.com)
While financial terms of the Great Hill deal were not disclosed in the available coverage, Great Hill’s own published investment criteria offer some context on what it likely sees in the business. The firm says it targets growth companies beyond the early stage, generally with 15%-plus annual growth, investment sizes between $100 million and $750 million, enterprise values below $1.25 billion, and either majority or minority ownership structures. That profile lines up with a scaled franchise brand like Woof Gang that has already demonstrated multi-year unit growth and strong consumer demand in services. This is an inference based on Great Hill’s stated strategy rather than a disclosed deal rationale. (cms.greathillpartners.com)
Industry context matters here, too. Pet spending has become more value-conscious in 2026, but services remain comparatively resilient. Morgan Stanley said in a June 17, 2026 outlook that services accounted for more than 40% of pet industry spending in 2025 and are likely to continue increasing as a share of the market. Separate deal coverage in the pet sector has similarly suggested that service and healthcare businesses remain attractive to investors because they are more insulated from import costs and can generate recurring local demand. (morganstanley.com)
For veterinary professionals, that matters in a few ways. First, more capital flowing into grooming and neighborhood pet-service chains can intensify competition for labor, especially in markets where clinics already struggle to recruit client-service staff, groomers, or cross-trained team members. Second, scaled franchise operators often become stronger local marketing engines, which can shift where pet parents go for routine touchpoints, product purchases, and early wellness conversations. Third, the continued investor appetite for service-led pet businesses reinforces a broader market view: convenience, recurring visits, and relationship-based care remain valuable even in a tighter consumer environment. (morganstanley.com)
There wasn’t much independent expert commentary tied specifically to this transaction in accessible reporting, but the broader industry reaction around pet M&A has been consistent: differentiated service platforms are still getting attention even as the market is more disciplined on price and growth assumptions. That helps frame the Great Hill investment less as a one-off headline and more as part of a continuing shift toward scaled, data-driven, multi-location pet care businesses. (reports.sdrventures.com)
What to watch: The next signals will likely be leadership or board changes, an updated development target, or signs that Woof Gang is broadening beyond grooming and boutique retail into additional wellness-adjacent services, technology, or franchise support infrastructure under Great Hill’s ownership. (cms.greathillpartners.com)