Temperature, soil drainage, light, and humidity. These are just some of the factors needed to maintain healthy plant growth. When something goes wrong, it’s hard to guess which aspect is missing. With Flora Pods, you get real-time data on your plants’ needs. Flora founder Aabesh De pitched his product on Shark Tank and landed a deal with Lori Greiner. Currently, Flora is valued at $3 million.
Background of Aabesh De
This AI-powered plant health monitoring device pairs with your smartphone to provide real-time, species-specific information. The idea was conceived by Aabesh De, who has extensive experience working in the tech industry.
Previously, De worked at Microsoft as a Customer Success Account Manager. Prior to founding Flora, he also held positions at Reverb.com, Othernet, Deloitte, and Medline Industries. In addition to his startups, he also owns the digital marketing agency Legasus Media.
Flora’s Creation
Aabesh admits that he wasn’t great at caring for plants, which inspired him to create Flora. When demand for indoor plants surged during the pandemic, De worked with a team of experts to develop the idea. The first batch of 1,000 plant monitors was shipped in 2022.
The products were shipped to customers who pre-ordered on its website and those who invested in its Kickstarter campaign. The initial goal was $10,000, but it ultimately raised more than $54,000 from 465 backers, BizJournals.com reported. Flora raised another $100,000 in pre-seed funding from former Reverb colleagues.
After Shark Tank
Before the show, the company had 270,000 app users from more than 200 countries. With the influence of Shark Tank, the number of users should grow by at least 20% in the next month. According to Entrepreneur Central, Flora’s annual recurring revenue has reached $150,000. Unless due diligence fails, the deal with Lori should be completed soon.
The recurring revenue of the business is a key driver of growth, but they need to reach profitability soon. You can buy the Smart Plant Coach for $59.99 on Amazon and FloraSense.com. To capitalize on the hype, the company is launching a 15% discount sale on its website.
Flora pod has a 5-star rating from 25 customers on its website, while its dedicated app has 742 reviews on the Google Play Store with an average rating of 4.2 stars. The free app can identify over 10,000 plant species, but there is an option to pay a $20 subscription to unlock premium features.
De’s company joined Tank in hopes of getting help expanding its business. Part of that is adding gaming elements to their app. The main goal, however, is to market the Flora pods to professional gardeners and farmers.
Currently, they are working on obtaining a patent for the four-layer humidity sensor. Once everything is ready, Flora may find a good place in the indoor plant market, which is expected to reach $27.51 billion by 2030.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: dut.edu.vn
