The Bouqs Company Raises $24 Million in Series C Funding
On the precipice of the floral industry's second biggest holiday, Valentine's Day, the new funding accelerates growth toward becoming one of the country's leading vertically integrated direct-to-consumer brands.
Jan 30, 2017, 07:00 ET
VENICE BEACH, Calif., Jan. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bouqs Company (Bouqs.com), an industry leader in online floral retail that delivers flowers fresh from eco-friendly, sustainable farms around the world to doorsteps nationwide, today announced a $24M Series C funding round led by new investor Partech Ventures. This investment brings the total raised by the company to over $43M since 2013. With an average annual growth rate of 200%, the funding comes on the heels of a successful 2016 for the company, reporting multiple days with $1M in sales and a cash flow positive Q4.
"We're excited for the next phase of the business, and I'm so proud of what our amazing team has accomplished," said John Tabis, Founder and CEO of The Bouqs Company. "We've earmarked this funding solely for growth and innovation, as we continue to disrupt the industry to benefit our customers, farmers and florists across the country and around the world."
Partech's partnership brings significant experience in building retail leaders such as GSI Commerce, Cdiscount.com and Made.com, among others. Joining Partech are new investors NextEquity Partners and Reimagined Ventures, and existing investors Azure Capital Partners, KEC Ventures, Quest Venture Partners, and Robert Herjavec of ABC's "Shark Tank."
As part of the investment, Mark Menell, General Partner, Partech Ventures, will join the Board of Directors, which includes Founders John Tabis and Juan Pablo Montúfar, Paul Ferris (Azure Capital Partners), Deborah Benton (former President, Nasty Gal and EVP, Teleflora) and Mich Mathews (former CMO, Microsoft).
"It is rare to find a combination of fundamental industry disruption, rapid growth and cash efficiency due to strong operating leverage in an ecommerce business at this stage," says Menell. "Customers absolutely love The Bouqs Company, and it's clear they are the next generation leader in the space. With a tech-driven and proprietary supply chain, a stellar team, and a $16B market opportunity in the US alone, we are beyond excited to support the company's mission of building the floral brand of the future."
The latest financing will be used to further invest in growing the brand, continue engineering superior technology for the company's direct-to-consumer supply chain, secure new headquarters in Venice Beach, CA, and continue growing the team. The company has made several key hires in the past year including CTO Carlos Moreno, formerly CTO of eco-friendly fashion brand Reformation, and CMO Jarred Goldberg, who was previously head of marketing at fashion retailer Revolve.
About The Bouqs Company
The Bouqs Company is an online flower delivery service founded by college classmates John Tabis and Juan Pablo Montúfar that delivers fresh cut flowers from eco-friendly, sustainable farms around the world to doorsteps across the country. Tabis, a brand and strategy executive formerly with Disney, and Montúfar, a third-generation farmer, started The Bouqs Company in late 2012 to radically disrupt the $50B global floral industry through a modern brand, responsibly-sourced flowers and a vertically-integrated supply chain. Headquartered in Venice Beach, CA, The Bouqs Company connects farms and a curated network of artisan florists directly to consumers, and disrupts the traditional supply chain by eliminating overhead costs like warehouses, importers, distributors, auctioneers and more. In turn, this model enables a superior product and redefines the experience and economics for both consumers and producers alike. For more information, visit www.bouqs.com and follow the #BouqLove on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
About Partech Ventures
Founded in 1982 in Silicon Valley, Partech Ventures is a global investment firm with a team spread across offices in San Francisco, Paris and Berlin. Most Partners have been entrepreneurs themselves or have held management positions within tech companies. The partnership acts and invests as a single team, helping entrepreneurs build fast-growing tech and digital companies addressing large markets across multiple continents. Partech Ventures partners with entrepreneurs at the seed (Partech Entrepreneur), venture (Partech International) and/or growth (Partech Growth) stages. Companies backed by Partech Ventures have completed 21 initial public offerings and more than 50 major M&A transactions with leading international companies. Since 2012, the team has built a pioneering business development platform fostering synergies and business relationships between entrepreneurs and strategic partners.
http://www.partechventures.com
SOURCE The Bouqs Company