A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally
RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ONLINE GIFTING
- Zola, an online wedding registry, raises $25M in series C round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Link
- The Bouqs Company, an online florist headquartered in California, raises $24M in Series C led by Partech Ventures. Link
- Bloomon, a subscription based flower delivery service provider, raises $23M in Series B led by Fortino Capital. Link
- My 1st Years, an online retailer of personalized gifts, raises $6.21M in round led by Beringea. Link
- Bloom & Wild, a London-based subscription service for flower delivery, raises $4.65M in a round led by BurdaPrincipal Investments. Link
SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND
FromMe (2016, Riga) – Online marketplace for gift cards operating in Latvia.
LEADER BOARD – ONLINE GIFTING
E-Commerce
Florists
1-800-Flowers (1976, NYC, IPO) – Online florist and gift retailing shop. Went IPO in 1999.
Roseonly (2013, Guangzhou, $49M) – Online flower vendor selling premium bouquets. Backed by Accel Partners, IDG Capital Partners, Telncent and others.
Gift Cards
Raise (2013, Chicago, $74M) – P2P marketplace for pre-owned gift cards. Backed by Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, NEA and LISTEN.
PlasticJungle (2006, San Mateo, $23M, Acq.) – Gift card exchange platform. Acquired by CardCash.com in 2014.
Horizontal
RedEnvelope (1999, San Diego, $64M, Acq.) – Online marketplace for gifts. Acquired by Providence Commerce in 2008.
Greetz (2009, Amsterdam, $16M) – Online platform for personalized gifts. Backed by Prime Ventures, GP Bullhound and ePlanet Capital.
Greeting Cards
Jibjab (1999, LA, $18M) – Online platform for greeting cards. Backed by Polaris Partners, Overbrook Entertainment and Sony Pictures.
Smilebox (2000, Redmond, $14M, Acq.) – Online platform to send greeting cards. Acquired by Perion in 2011.
Gift Recommendation
Liwushuo (2012, Beijing,$33M) – Online gift discovery platform. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and Innovation Angel Funds.
Registries
Zola (2013, NYC, $41M) – Online wedding registry that enables group buying and cash contributions. Backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Thrive Capital, Comcast Ventures and others.
Wedding Channel (1996, LA, $30M, Acq.) – Online gift registry and marketplace for wedding products and services. Acquired by The Knot in 2006.
Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.
For latest update, visit Online Gifting feed.