Bark (BarkBox)
- 🦄Became a unicorn2021
- 📈Peak valuation$1.6 Billion ’21
- 💔Became a Unitard2022
- 💸Last valuation~$78M
How it happened
Bark, best known for its BarkBox monthly subscription of toys and treats for dogs, rode pandemic pet adoption to a June 2021 public debut via a $1.6B SPAC merger with Northern Star Acquisition Corp. Subscriber growth stalled as pet spending normalized and the company struggled to reach consistent profitability, sliding the stock roughly 85% to a small-cap around $250M — well below its debut. Glassdoor reviews from the 2023 stretch describe the strain: two mass layoff rounds about six months apart cut 200-plus staff with little warning, some of it, reviewers said, without regard to performance. Survivors described absorbing extra roles as pay, promotions and equity froze, amid shifting strategy and a push to offshore work.
Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗. See our methodology.
Source: Retail Dive / PRNewswire / SEC ($1.6B SPAC merger with Northern Star Acquisition Corp, closed June 2021, ~$427M proceeds; market cap fell to ~$250M)
