In the midst of the e-commerce boom, the online flower and plant sales platform Colvin continues its international expansion in Europe with the acquisition of the French company Monsieur Marguerite, which has a team of 25 employees and two production centers in Paris and Hyeres. With the new addition, the startup is now present in five markets ---Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and France---, after having to leave the Netherlands.
This operation, for an undisclosed amount, is part of the growth phase that Colvin has initiated after closing a Series C round of 45 million euros last July. Led by Eurazeo and Capagro, it included the participation of previous investors, such as Milano Investment Partners SGR, P101, Samaipata, and Bynd.
Since its creation at the end of 2016, the flower e-commerce has managed to raise a total of 70 million euros in six rounds. The first was in December 2016, for an amount of 300,000 euros. Shortly after, in March 2017, they raised an additional 400,000 euros. That same year, in December, came the third round, for an amount of two million euros. These resources were complemented in October 2018 with a Series A of six million, which was expanded with two million more. In June 2020, they closed a Series B round, for 14 million.
Since its creation at the end of 2016, the flower e-commerce has managed to raise a total of 70 million euros in six roundsThe latest round for Colvin, of 45 million, must also serve to expand its workforce.Currently, it has more than 250 workers and expects to reach 300 in the coming months.The staff is distributed across three production centers, located in Gavà, Tuscany, and Berlin, in addition to the team responsible for company management, about 130 people, most of them in Barcelona. It is in the production centers where they receive the floral product and prepare it for distribution to the final consumer. In Gavà, opened more than a year ago and with an area of 4,000 square meters, 60 employees work.
Colvin was born "with the vision of changing the floriculture industry," explains one of its co-founders, Sergi Bastardas, in an interview with The New Barcelona Post. Bastardas and the other co-founder, Andrés Cester, detected that the supply chain in this sector presented some inefficiencies, such as the presence of many intermediaries, which drives up the price and reduces profitability. Likewise, the long process from when the flower is cut until it is delivered also means a loss of product and quality along the way.
The recipe these two young entrepreneurs found was to go directly to the producers, with whom they agree on a stable volume of purchases and a price for the entire year, reducing the risks they may face. At the same time, they can offer consumers a better quality and cheaper product. All the technology they have developed to make this possible has been offered since 2020 to other producers and distributors, with the aim of generating more efficient and digital connections.
The Barcelona startup is not yet profitable and is focused on continuing to grow in the digital channel, after closing the store it opened on Pau Claris in 2019. In the long term, it plans to establish collaborations with florists to sell its products.
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