Bloomscape, the Detroit-based direct-to-consumer online plant retail company, today announced it has raised $7.5 million in Series A investment funding.
Washington, D.C.-based Revolution Ventures led the investment along with participation from Endeavor Capital of Portland, Ore., existing investors, and others.
Founded by Justin Mast, an entrepreneur who comes from five generations of horticulturalists, Bloomscape provides what he describes as unmatched plant quality and care support. The company leverages its proprietary packing and shipping systems to quickly deliver fully potted plants, post-purchase directions, and advice.
“Growing millennial interest in plants has created significant pent up demand for a reliable online retailer,” says Mast. “Bloomscape is meeting that need by offering more than 90 kinds of plants and shipping them to consumers’ front doors from our greenhouses near Grand Rapids, Michigan,” says Mast. “Plants make any space feel more welcoming, but the experience of buying and caring for plants can be daunting. We make it easy for millions of people to select high-quality plants that fit any space and lifestyle.”
The company offers plant care instructions and free, expert advice via its Plant Mom platform, powered by Joyce Mast — Justin’s mother. Joyce Mast brings more than over 40 years of horticulture expertise and deep industry knowledge directly to consumers’ fingertips.
According to Bloomscape, the plant industry has been slow to come online given the complexity of warehousing and shipping living plants and the lack of scaled players whose supply chains can support an e-commerce offering. Meanwhile, consumer shopping preferences and millennials’ interest in owning plants have driven growth in the $50-billion category.
The investors say Bloomscape is filling the void between big box stores, fading gardening centers, and nurseries unable to compete online by building a direct-to-consumer brand that leads the field in providing the greatest diversity of plants shipped directly from local, high-tech greenhouses.
“Plants are a highly fragmented, fast-growing industry, but the market has been slow to come online – warehousing and shipping living things is hard,” says Clara Sieg, partner at Revolution Ventures. “Drawing on five generations of horticultural experience, Justin and the Bloomscape team combine the ease of e-commerce with care and maintenance resources in a beautifully branded, consumer-centric experience that empowers even the least green thumbed among us to be successful plant parents.”
In just over a year, Bloomscape has garnered a rapidly growing and loyal following, generating millions in sales and has shipped over 100,000 plants.
