Chewy, Inc.
Pet E-commerce / Online RetailFounded 2011- Updated July 2025
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Last reviewed: July 2025
CorpDigest
Chewy, Inc.
Company History
Founded 2011 in Plantation, Florida
Last reviewed: 2025-07-15 · By Swet Parvadiya
Chewy's most important data-backed fact is that its Autoship subscription program generated $10.50 billion in FY2025, representing 83.3% of total net sales and growing 11.8% year-over-year — a level of recurring revenue concentration that places Chewy in the top tier of subscription commerce companies alongside Netflix and Spotify. This performance occurred while the company expanded gross margin to 29.8%, grew adjusted EBITDA margin to 5.7%, and generated record free cash flow of $562.4 million — all during a period when CEO Sumit Singh warned of low single-digit industry growth and little or no contribution from pricing. The company's 21.3 million active customers spent an average of $591 each over the trailing twelve months, and Chewy Vet Care customers generated 2-5x that amount. With $879 million in cash, no debt, and a stock trading at 0.7x sales, Chewy is either a deep value play in a $136 billion industry or a cautionary tale about competitive moats in e-commerce — and the next 18 months will determine which narrative prevails.
Ryan Cohen is a Canadian-American entrepreneur and investor who founded Chewy in 2011 at age 25. Growing up in South Florida, Cohen learned entrepreneurship from his father, a glassware importer who taught him that the best decisions come from intuition. Cohen dropped out of college to build websites and run affiliate marketing businesses, meeting his future co-founder Michael Day in an internet chat room focused on programming. In 2011, Cohen and Day initially pursued an online jewelry business but pivoted to pet supplies after Cohen realized his personal passion for the category, inspired by his poodle Tylee and a trusted local pet store owner. They launched MrChewy.com from Dania Beach, Florida, with minimal capital and no venture backing. Cohen's leadership was defined by a fanatical commitment to customer service — he insisted on 24/7 phone support with real humans, sent handwritten notes to customers, and personally intervened in customer complaints. This service culture, while expensive, created loyalty that enabled Chewy to outspend competitors on customer acquisition while maintaining industry-leading retention. Revenue grew from $26 million in 2012 to $901 million in 2016. In 2017, Cohen negotiated the $3.35 billion sale to PetSmart, the largest e-commerce acquisition in history at that time. He stepped down as CEO in March 2018 and later built a reputation as an activist investor, acquiring stakes in GameStop, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Nordstrom. In 2023, he was named CEO of GameStop. Forbes estimates his net worth at $3.2 billion.
Michael Day co-founded Chewy with Ryan Cohen in 2011 and served as the company's Chief Technology Officer. Day met Cohen in an internet chat room as a teenager, bonding over shared interests in website design and programming. While Cohen focused on customer service, brand, and investor relations, Day built the technical infrastructure that enabled Chewy's explosive growth. He architected the e-commerce platform from scratch, designed the inventory management system that supported the transition from third-party logistics to in-house fulfillment, and developed the data pipeline that powered Chewy's personalization and Autoship algorithms. Day's technical decisions — including the choice to build custom systems rather than rely on off-the-shelf e-commerce platforms — gave Chewy flexibility and scalability that competitors lacked. He remained with the company through the PetSmart acquisition and IPO, though he maintained a lower public profile than Cohen. Day's engineering culture emphasized reliability, speed, and data-driven decision-making — principles that continue to shape Chewy's technology organization.
Ryan Cohen and Michael Day founded MrChewy.com in Dania Beach, Florida, pivoting from an initial jewelry e-commerce concept to pet supplies. The company started with three people, a call center, and inventory purchased from a local distributor.
Larry Cheng of Volition Capital invested $15 million in Chewy's Series A after initially passing six to nine months earlier. The capital funded Chewy's first in-house fulfillment center in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, a 400,000-square-foot facility leased with no prior logistics experience.
Chewy opened its second fulfillment center in Reno, Nevada, achieving nationwide coverage. Revenue reached $205 million in 2014, up from $26 million in 2012, as the company scaled its direct-response marketing and customer service operations.
Chewy generated $423 million in revenue in 2015, becoming one of the fastest-growing e-commerce companies in the United States. The company expanded its product catalog to over 30,000 items and built a customer service team of hundreds.
Chewy reached $901 million in revenue in 2016, with approximately 3 million active customers. The company opened additional fulfillment centers and invested heavily in customer service infrastructure, including 24/7 phone support and personalized outreach.
PetSmart, owned by private equity firm BC Partners, acquired Chewy for $3.35 billion in cash — the largest e-commerce acquisition in history at the time. The deal provided BC Partners with a high-growth digital asset to complement PetSmart's brick-and-mortar network.
Ryan Cohen stepped down as CEO in March 2018. Sumit Singh, who joined Chewy from Amazon in 2017 as COO, was promoted to CEO. Singh had previously led Amazon's worldwide fresh and grocery business.
Chewy went public on the New York Stock Exchange on June 14, 2019, pricing its IPO at $22 per share and raising $1.02 billion. The stock surged 59% on the first day of trading, achieving an $8.8 billion valuation. PetSmart retained majority voting control through Class B shares.
Chewy benefited from COVID-19-driven e-commerce acceleration, with active customers surging as pet adoption rates increased. The company launched Connect with a Vet, a 24/7 telehealth service, expanding into pet health services.
Chewy generated $8.89 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2021, up 24.6% year-over-year, as pandemic-era pet ownership and online shopping habits solidified. Autoship penetration exceeded 70% of net sales.
Chewy achieved GAAP profitability in FY2022 with net income of $49.9 million on $10.12 billion in revenue. The company demonstrated that its growth-at-all-costs model could transition to sustainable profitability through Autoship operating leverage.
FY2023 revenue reached $11.15 billion with adjusted EBITDA of $445 million at a 4.0% margin. The company expanded private-label penetration and optimized fulfillment costs while maintaining customer growth.
FY2024 net sales were $11.86 billion with gross margin expanding to 29.2%. Net income was $392.7 million, and the company generated $596.3 million in operating cash flow. Chewy Vet Care opened its first clinics.
FY2025 net sales reached $12.60 billion with adjusted EBITDA of $719.2 million (5.7% margin) and record free cash flow of $562.4 million. Chewy Vet Care opened 10 new practices, reaching 18 locations. The company repurchased 6.8 million shares for $257 million.
In April 2026, Chewy announced the acquisition of Modern Animal, a technology-forward veterinary platform with 29 owned clinics, expanding Chewy Vet Care from 18 to 47 locations and adding over $125 million in annualized run-rate revenue.
In April 2026, Chewy announced the acquisition of Modern Animal, a technology-forward veterinary platform with 29 owned clinics across the United States, primarily concentrated in California. The acquisition accelerates Chewy's evolution from a pet product retailer into a fully integrated pet healthcare ecosystem. Modern Animal brings a modern technology stack, a membership-based veterinary care model, and a customer base of premium pet owners who align with Chewy's demographic. The deal expands Chewy Vet Care from 18 to 47 locations and adds over $125 million in annualized run-rate revenue.
While technically an acquisition of Chewy by PetSmart rather than by Chewy, the $3.35 billion cash transaction in April 2017 was the defining corporate event in Chewy's history. PetSmart, owned by private equity firm BC Partners, acquired Chewy to secure a high-growth digital asset that could offset declining brick-and-mortar traffic. The deal provided Chewy with the capital to complete its national fulfillment network and fund customer acquisition at scale.