Modern Garden Center Company Bloomscape Raises $15 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 5, 2020
  • Modern online garden center Bloomscape announced it has raised $15 million in a new round of funding led by General Catalyst

Modern online garden center Bloomscape announced it has raised $15 million in a new round of funding led by General Catalyst. Including this round, the company has raised a total of $24 million.

General Catalyst co-founder and managing director Joel Cutler and Annox Capital Management managing partner Bob Mylod will join Bloomscape’s Board of Directors in connection with the funding round.

Bob Mylod, Jeff Boyd (Home Depot Board of Directors and formerly Chairman of Booking Holdings), and John Replogle (formerly CEO of Seventh Generation and Burt’s Bees) are also contributing to the round with participation from existing investors including Revolution Ventures and Ludlow Ventures.

Bloomscape also announced the acquisition of plant care app Vera — which will provide customers access to plant care tips and content, troubleshooting, watering reminders, etc. The app, Vera by Bloomscape, is yet another initiative toward Bloomscape’s mission of arming plant parents with ongoing plant care support, resources, and tools to ensure plant parents have what they need to succeed.

With this funding round, Bloomscape will use the investment to 1.) Continue to grow premium plant care offerings 2.) Grow the team 3.) Build a world-class distribution model and 4.) expand product offerings.

And with the success of the Edible Garden beta (which sold out in less than a week), Bloomscape will be officially launching its Edible Garden Shop, including a small tomato, lavender, sweet pepper, hot pepper, kale mix, mint, and chamomile plants as well as the aromatic, savory, and spicy collections. And Bloomscape is also announcing the company’s expansion into the outdoor plant category next year, as the team continues to pioneer the online garden space.

Since its Series A funding round round last year, the company has seen 4x growth and it has more than doubled its team.

KEY QUOTES:

“We’re proud of the rapid growth our business has seen since launch, but this is just the beginning. With this new round of fundraising and the acquisition of the Vera app, we’re ready to take our product offering to the next level with new plants, tools and educational information to ensure our customers have everything they need to be successful plant parents, all in one place. Our business model is uniquely positioned for success in a time where ecommerce is key in consumer purchasing, and with our team’s historic knowledge of plant care and horticulture supply chain as well as distribution, we’re thrilled to be using our new funds to grow and continue in our mission to be the leading modern garden center for a new generation of plant lovers.”

— Justin Mast, founder and CEO, Bloomscape

“You’d be hard pressed to find a team that understands a consumer vertical better than Bloomscape does with home gardening. The team has found not just excellence in the complicated logistics of cultivating and shipping live plants nationwide, but also a strong resonance with today’s consumer who’s looking to green up their living spaces.”

— Joel Cutler, co-founder and managing director, General Catalyst