Former Farfetch executives launch Sproutl
UK gardening start-up Sproutl has launched an online marketplace and announced $9 million of seed funding led by Index Ventures with participation from Ada Ventures.
The platform enables customers to access gardening products and plants from the UK’s leading independent garden centres, nurseries and shops and also offers inspiration and advice to audiences who may never have grown anything before.
Horticultural launch partners include the likes of Rosebourne, Polhill and Millbrook garden centres as well as specialist nurseries such as Middleton and indoor plant specialist Bellr.
Sproutl said the platform is designed to make shopping hassle-free for consumers and take the pain out of online selling for horticultural suppliers who can integrate it with their systems.
The company was founded by former Farfetch executives Anni Noel-Johnson and Andy Done who are chief executive and chief technology officer respectively. The pair were then joined by Hollie Newton as the company’s chief creative officer.
Noel-Johnson and Done said: “We built Sproutl to invite a new audience to take up gardening and give them the world-class ecommerce experience that digital natives expect. Our mission is to demystify growing plants and remove the barriers to getting started. We want to celebrate the UK’s brilliant horticultural industry and the network of family-owned and independent businesses, bringing their plants and products together in one place, generating incremental sales to new nationwide audiences.”
Sproutl said the $9 million seed investment will enable it to move one step closer to its ambition of changing the online gardening landscape in the UK and will also be used to expand the company’s senior team.
