April Plants drives the digitalization of plant sales and closes a round with Esade Ban

E-commerce is growing by leaps and bounds in all types of businesses, but that of buying garden or indoor plants is one of the market segments that is most lagging in the digitalization process, since online sales in 2018 had a weight of only 4.5%, a figure that after the pandemic has climbed to 12% and is expected to exceed 25% in four years.

There are several startups that want to take advantage of this growth potential and are committed to digitizing the sector and offering plant lovers an alternative to traditional neighborhood florists or garden centers. This is the case of firms such as Colvin, very oriented to flowers and plants for gifts, Monstera or April Plants, a company founded in Barcelona by entrepreneur Jonàs Feliu and recently selected by the Lanzadera accelerator, founded by Juan Roig, president of Mercadona.

With an initial capital of 75,000 euros contributed by Feliu and several acquaintances ---a Friends, Family and Fools round---, plus a loan of 25,000 euros, April Plants began its activity in the midst of the pandemic, in September 2020, and has specialized in the online sale exclusively of plants, both indoor and outdoor. According to the firm, it already has the largest catalog of online plant sales, with more than 200 types, compared to competitors who have specialized in only about twenty references. The challenge now is to double the variety of plants available.

April Plants does not have its own crops, it sources directly from plant producers, located mainly in Catalonia, in the Maresme area, which has allowed it to eliminate up to five intermediaries. Its main supplier is the Corma cooperative, so the startup has a warehouse and operations center in Premià de Mar, although it is now looking for a larger warehouse in the area to cope with its growth.

Since its launch, the firm has grown 25% monthly, multiplying its turnover tenfold in the first year and building a portfolio of 7,000 clients. Thus, in 2021, April Plants invoiced 158,000 euros and its objective is to reach two million euros in 2022. According to Feliu, the average price of each order is around 69 euros, as clients typically buy two plants on average. One of the company's strengths is having managed to patent a packaging system that allows sending plants up to 2 meters tall to homes, ensuring they always arrive at the client in perfect condition within 24/48 hours.

To finance its growth plan, April Plants has just closed a 320,000 euro financing round led by EsadeBan, Esade's network of business angels. Executives from companies such as Westwing, Pepsico, and Isdin participated in the operation. Thus, from now on, Juan Sureda, CEO of Westwing, joins the April Plants team as an investor and advisor.

According to the founder, the 320,000 euros raised will be used to increase the team, for the marketing strategy, and to scale the business model. For now, the expansion will focus on Spain, where the entrepreneur believes there is still much potential for growth, although, later, he will evaluate making the leap to Portugal and France.

Feliu, who studied industrial design at Elisava and marketing at Pompeu Fabra, decided to create April Plants after completing an MBA at Esade. "Thanks to my grandmother, I have always been passionate about plants. As a customer, the shopping experience I had was bad, and that's why I saw the opportunity to enter a very undigitalized market that is expected to channel 25% of sales through online commerce in four years," he explains.