Donna Letier is a morning person, and the moments she is watering her garden is she finds herself the most mindful. With her fast-growing startup Gardenuity, she’s looking to give that same experience to others.
With the pandemic making companies making companies take harder looks at employee health and wellness, while considering how to keep teams connected with new hybrid models, the Dallas-based e-commerce company is seeing increased growth on the B2B side of its business with big name clients and aiming to raise new funds to support that.
“I believe gardening grows gratitude, gratitude for wellness, gratitude for the planet, gratitude for the community, and gratitude for all the farmers who make food available to us every day of the year,” Letier, who serves as CEO, said.
Launched in 2016, Gardenuity sells do-it-yourself gardening kits, complete with the nutrients the plants need to get growing. Letier said the company’s customers boast a 90% success rate with their plants. Part of that is due to a patent-pending algorithm that matches them with the right veggies and herbs based on their zip code and the season. Gardenuity also provides “concierge” aftercare tips and real-time weather alerts.
“We have a love for technology, we have a love for wellness,” Letier said. “I come from retail… so we really looked around and felt like there was an opportunity in this category to bring it to meet today's consumers where they are.”
The success its customers see has translated into success for the company. Without disclosing specific figures, Letier said Gardenuity experienced 500% revenue growth from 2019 to 2020, marking a six-fold increase in the number of plants it sold. And it’s on track to see 200% net revenue growth this year. To help fuel its continued expansion, Gardenuity is in the middle of a $4 million fundraising effort, its first besides an early friends and family round.
Letier said the product, tech and e-commerce experience that current customers know Gardenuity for came together about three years ago. Not long after, the company brought on COO Doug Platts, who Letier said was instrumental in driving push into the B2B space, where the company is seeing more business than from direct consumer orders. Prior to joining the company, Platts was the VP of marketing at local technology services firm Dialexa.
“The idea is one to many. If you look at just the statistics of the number of companies who are adding chief wellness officers, chief happiness officers, they're looking for a way to get their employees engaged not only in their brand but in each other,” Letier said. “Preventative care is something that is really getting a lot of attention right now. We've got some people who come to us with prescriptions from their doctors to garden.”
Gardenuity is currently seeing an 85% rebooking rate with its corporate partners, which includes names like Uber, Toyota, Salesforce and Cigna. Letier attributes the increase in B2B clients to the pandemic’s effect on the workplace, with companies looking to retain culture and connection while working remotely or looking for ways to improve workforce wellness. Gardenuity also hosts virtual events, providing training on how to use their garden kits to make craft cocktails and fresh meals. Letier also points out direct consumer sales have increased as gardening became a pandemic pastime for many.
Looking ahead, Letier said the company is looking to continue on its trajectory while targeting larger corporate partners. Currently, Gardenuity’s main business clients are with Fortune 1000 companies, she said.
“Our growth from point A to B to C has really been a lot of referrals, a lot of trial and error, and being cognizant of trends that are going around,” Letier said. “People want to be healthy employers, they want their teams to be healthy, because it's a lot less expensive for them if they do preventative care. If you listen to the marketplace, it'll help guide you in the right direction.”
