Crumbs and Whiskers is a

small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have a small number of employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being ...

which operates cat cafés that foster rescue

cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

and offer cafe amenities, in , and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. Crumbs & Whiskers partners with rescues who save cats at risk of euthanasia in high kill shelters and cats facing homelessness on the streets. Crumbs and Whiskers opened its first cat café in Washington on June 20, 2015; this was the first cat café to open in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

. The Washington, D.C., café is partnered with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue, and provides a living space for around 20 to 25 cats at a time. Through the partnership arrangement, the Homeward Trails provides vaccinated and vetted cats to Crumbs and Whiskers, which functions as a foster home for the cats until they are adopted. The Los Angeles café opened on September 30, 2016, and was the first cat café to open in the

Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...

. The Los Angeles café is partnered with Stray Cat Alliance, a Los Angeles–based animal rescue which provides cats for the café. Similar to the Washington, D.C., café, the Los Angeles café offers a living space for the cats until they are adopted. Crumbs and Whiskers uses an online booking system for scheduling visits and offers a fixed admission price per visit.

Startup funding

The business founder, Kanchan Singh, opted to finance the venture by

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

through a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

project with a target, an amount which she was initially uncertain that she could raise. The Crumbs and Whiskers Kickstarter project reached its funding target less than a day after it launched, and doubled this amount prior to the project deadline. The campaign ended with 705 backers and raised a total of $35,881 for the café.

References

{{Domestic cat, state=collapsed Cat organizations Coffeehouses and cafés in the United States Tourist attractions in Washington, D.C. Tourist attractions in Los Angeles Entertainment venues in Washington, D.C. Entertainment venues in California 2015 establishments in Washington, D.C. 2016 establishments in California Restaurants in Los Angeles Restaurants in Washington, D.C.