BloomNation, an online consumer marketplace with more than 2,000 artisan florists across the country, announced the launch of a new Florist Business Center to provide local florists the tools needed to gain new customers and grow their businesses. The company also received $1.65 million in funding from top venture firms Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, Chicago Ventures, CrunchFund and MuckerLab to help independent florists thrive in the $34 billion floral industry dominated by national websites.

'BloomNation is removing the barriers of large online floral brokers by providing the first transparent platform for local florists to be discovered by consumers all over the world. By giving florists the ability to list their own unique designs and sell them directly to consumers, we are solving a huge pain point for both consumers and florists,' said Farbod Shoraka, CEO and Co-Founder of BloomNation. 'We're also very excited to be partnering with high-caliber investors who have deep expertise in building online marketplaces and can help us create a superior online floral buying experience.'

'At Spark Capital, we look to invest in companies operating in marketplace industries that have an outstanding potential for growth,' said Andrew Parker, Principal at Spark Capital. 'The floral industry is a huge market that has remained untouched for almost 100 years. BloomNation is disrupting the online floral business by solving the problems of today's local florists as well as consumers' poor experiences with ordering flowers online.'

The new Florist Business Center includes an innovative feature called BloomSnap, which allows florists to instantly share photos of their customer's actual arrangement before it is delivered. This addresses one of the biggest consumer pain points of not having the chance to see their gift before it goes to their recipient. In addition, the Florist Business Center lets florists set up a free online store with a full-featured point-of-sale system. This includes customer management tools, sales analytics, marketing and social media campaign management, a website builder, as well as the ability to securely process credit card transactions for walk-in and phone orders.

'Many local florists struggle to find the time and resources to build and maintain an online presence, market their business, and manage day-to-day business tasks,' said David Mark, owner of Designs by David, a premier flower shop in Los Angeles. 'BloomNation has provided us with a complete business solution. With easy-to-use tools to run our entire business, I now have more time to focus on what I love: designing and crafting beautiful floral arrangements and providing superior customer service.'

BloomNation provides consumers with a convenient way to order quality arrangements, sourced locally in more than 3,000 cities across the U.S. To order flowers at BloomNation, go to www.BloomNation.com. Local artisan florists can join the marketplace and list their designs for sale by signing up at www.BloomNation.com/join. For more information, call 877-702-5666.

About BloomNation

BloomNation is an online marketplace that allows consumers to discover unique hand-crafted floral designs delivered by local florist artisans. The marketplace offers consumers the freedom to choose from over 25,000 unique designs from top florists across the country.

BloomNation is a graduate of MuckerLab, a pioneering LA-based accelerator that builds, launches, and helps to raise financing for category-leading startups. BloomNation is also a winner of the Booth School of Business New Venture Challenge. BloomNation is funded by Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, Chicago Ventures, CrunchFund and MuckerLab.