BloomNation is an American online floral marketplace with about 3,500 florists delivering to nearly 5,000 cities across the country. As an “Etsy-type” site for flowers, customers connect directly with local florists whose flower arrangements are highlighted in the marketplace.[1] The florists upload their own real photos of their floral design as no stock catalog images are allowed.[2] In the marketplace, customers can browse flower arrangements and reviews from participating florists all in one place.[3]
 | |
| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Santa Monica, California (March 22, 2010) |
| Headquarters | , |
| Founder(s) | Farbod Shoraka, Gregg Weisstein and David Daneshgar |
| Services | Marketplace for Local Florists |
| Employees | 45 |
| URL | bloomnation |
History
editBloomNation is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and was founded by David Daneshgar, Farbod Shoraka and Gregg Weisstein in 2011.[4] The original concept of a marketplace for florists was developed by Farbod after hearing the struggles of his aunt, who is a local florist.[5] The business plan was developed at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business where Daneshgar, Shoraka, and Weisstein won the university's New Venture Challenge.[6] Initial seed funding was obtained when Daneshgar, a former World Series of Poker champion, won a two-day poker tournament in Los Angeles. This gave the company enough funding to create a beta version of the marketplace and establish proof of concept.[7]
BloomNation was the first national floral website to accept bitcoin.[8] They offer customers a "BloomSnap", a feature where the florist sends the customer a photo of the completed arrangement before it goes out for delivery.[9]
Funding
editBloomNation raised $1.65 million in seed funding. The round was led by Chris Dixon at Andreessen Horowitz and included participation from Spark Capital, Chicago Ventures and CrunchFund.[10]
In October 2014, BloomNation raised an additional $5.55 million series A round from Ronny Conway, Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, Chicago Ventures and Crunchfund.[11] The additional resources will help the company expand its curated network of florists, introduce a wedding/event service and launch a mobile app.[12]
References
edit- ^ Heussner, Ki Mae. "More funding for flower startups: Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital back BloomNation". Gigaom. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ "Send Friends, Family Spring Bouquets From BloomNation.com". CBS. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ Northrup, Laura. "1-800-Flowers Promises Flowers, Refund, Coupons: Delivers None Of The Above". Consumerist. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
- ^ Sirkin, Jessica. "Analytics Guide Business Model of New National Florist Network". Data Informed. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ Heller Zaimont, Rachel. "How Three Dudes Turned Poker Winnings into a Startup That Could Fix the Flower Business". Fast Company. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
- ^ Pillai, Divyanka. "Past NVC Winner's Business is Blooming". Chicago Business. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- ^ Johnston, Susan. "4 Young Entrepreneurs on the Creative Ways They Raised Startup Capital". Young Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
- ^ MEYER, ROBINSON. "It Is Now Possible to Buy Tulips With Bitcoin". The Atlantic. The Atlantic. Retrieved Feb 13, 2014.
- ^ Barry, Erin. "Budding start-up aims to blossom". CNBC. CNBC. Retrieved Aug 6, 2014.
- ^ Perez, Sarah. "BloomNation, a platform for local florists, raises $1.65m from Andreessen Horowitz & Others". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ Dave, Paresh. "BloomNation's artsy online flower shop gets $5.6 million in funding". LA Times. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
- ^ Slade, Hollie. "Etsy-For-Flowers, BloomNation Inks Funding From Andreessen Horowitz". Forbes. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
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