Yi Dong

Founder and CEO MoeGo

Last Reviewed: September 18, 2026

Executive Summary

Yi Dong — who goes by Ethan Dong — is the founder and chief executive of MoeGo, a Los Angeles software company that runs the back office of pet grooming and pet care businesses: scheduling, payments, client records and communication in a single platform. The company exists because of a specific frustration. Dong, a dog owner with a full calendar, could not get a grooming appointment booked for his dog DeeDee without a run of phone calls, and asked the obvious question of why there was no OpenTable for pet care. Rather than build from that assumption, he visited more than fifty local pet shops and spent hours interviewing owners about how their businesses actually worked, and the team went on to work inside grooming salons and mobile vans. MoeGo reports having facilitated over 69 million appointments and reached more than 10 million pet parents as of 2025, and raised a $24 million Series A led by Base10 Partners in March 2024.

Career Highlights

• Founded MoeGo and has led it as chief executive since, building it into a widely used management platform for pet care businesses.
• Raised a $24 million Series A announced on 4 March 2024, led by Base10 Partners with Digitalis Ventures, Conductive Ventures and UpHonest Capital.
• Reports more than 69 million appointments facilitated and over 10 million pet parents reached as of 2025, serving thousands of pet care businesses.
• Previously ran Meitu’s United States office as Head of US Office.
• Co-led development of Airbrush, Meitu’s photo editing app, which grew past 30 million users worldwide.
• Angel investor in companies including Veritas Genetics and ObEN, Inc.
• Built the product from direct field research, interviewing owners at more than fifty pet care shops before writing software.

Professional Journey

Dong’s background before MoeGo was in consumer mobile software rather than small business tooling. He took a Master of Arts in Communication Management at the University of Southern California, and went on to head Meitu’s United States office. Meitu is the Chinese company behind a family of enormously popular photo and beauty applications, and Dong co-led the development of Airbrush, its photo editing app, which grew to more than 30 million users globally. That is an education in consumer product design at scale — in how ordinary people, with no training and no patience, actually use an app.

Alongside his operating work he became an angel investor, backing companies including the genomics firm Veritas Genetics and the AI company ObEN.

MoeGo began from his own experience as a customer. Trying to book a groomer for his dog DeeDee around a busy schedule, he found the process stuck in phone calls and paper diaries, and asked why pet care had no equivalent of OpenTable. The important decision came next: instead of building the consumer booking app the frustration suggested, he sketched initial ideas with a partner and then went to the businesses themselves, visiting more than fifty local pet care shops and interviewing owners at length about their operational problems. The team spent time working inside grooming shops and mobile grooming vans.

What emerged was business software rather than a consumer marketplace — a platform built specifically for pet care operators rather than a generic scheduling or point-of-sale tool bent to fit, covering appointments, payments, client and pet records, reminders and communication for salons, mobile groomers and multi-location businesses. The positioning reflects the research: owners’ problems were operational, not demand generation.

Growth followed. By 2025 MoeGo reported serving thousands of pet care businesses, facilitating more than 69 million appointments and reaching over 10 million pet parents. In March 2024 the company raised a $24 million Series A led by Base10 Partners, joined by Digitalis Ventures, Conductive Ventures and UpHonest Capital, and it remains based in Los Angeles.

Education

University of Southern California

Master of Arts, Communication Management. No undergraduate institution or graduation years could be established.