The Bouqs Raises $12 Million

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The Bouqs Co., an online flower delivery company in Venice, has raised a $12 million Series B round.

The investment will be used to expand its farm-direct supply chain, local florist networks and to increase the company’s 40-person staff by about 25 percent in the next several months.

Bouqs, which was founded in 2012, sources its flowers from farms in the United States, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica. In July, the company began offering same-day flower delivery sourced from local florists.

The American flower market is worth about $15 billion, said Bouqs Chief Executive John Tabis.

He added that the company is actively trying to cut into the business of competitors such as L.A.’s Teleflora and 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. of Carle Place, New York.

“We are stealing clients from other places and we are expanding the pie by making (flower buying) a more enjoyable experience, so people will purchase more frequently,” said Tabis.

Between 55-65 percent of the company’s revenue per quarter comes from repeat buyers, Tabis added.

“We have a core group of buyers that will spend over $1,000 on flowers annually,” he said.

The Series B round included investors Quest Venture Partners, Azure Capital Partners, KEC Ventures, Enspire Capital, Draper Associates and funds from crowdfunding platform OurCrowd.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.