Tilly is the winner of the 2022 Colorado Inno award in the home design/improvement category.
So far this year, virtual landscape design startup Tilly raised $1 million in pre-seed funding, launched plant sales and has experienced seven times year-over-year growth. It’s focusing its efforts on plant sales next year and plans to have more of its yards designated as certified wildlife habitats.
What inspired your business? Tilly was created by four best friends from high school: a talented landscape architect and three business-savvy homeowners looking for a better solution to designing their yards. When they had just entered the home-buying phase, they realized how expensive and intimidating landscaping was. They felt there had to be an easier way. In 2018, when on a long weekend together, they brainstormed how you could bring the antiquated landscape design industry online — making it easier and more accessible to homeowners across the country.
What was Tilly’s biggest accomplishment in the past year? This year, Tilly launched plant sales, where homeowners can order plants directly from their design plans to be delivered straight to their curb. This service addresses a big pain point for customers, who often have to go to multiple nurseries to complete their designs. This has been a huge success in helping bring their dream yard to life. Our plant sales team makes the process seamless — sourcing and helping with any substitutions they may need to complete their project.
What about your biggest challenge? The economic uncertainty has been a challenge this year, but we’ve continued to show customers our value and find new ways to reach them.
Has being headquartered in Colorado proved beneficial for Tilly? We’ve found Colorado to be a great support system. The Denver Angels network invested in Tilly and has provided us with amazing thought leadership and connected us to an incredible network in the state.
What are your goals for the next year? Next year, we look forward to continuing to focus on plant sales, which saves our customers time and money. We will also look to support our National Wildlife Federation alignment to design more yards as certified wildlife habitats, which increases biodiversity and helps local wildlife.
How does Tilly inspire its employees to innovate? Our employees are, by nature, very creative and innovative, as most of them are trained designers. We are constantly tapping into them for brainstorms and feedback, and [we] really value their opinions.
If you had to choose a mascot for Tilly, what would it be? We design sustainable landscapes with pollinators and other local wildlife in mind, so we’d have to say we’d be bees! They are small, but very mighty (and fierce). They play an important part in pollinating crops and wildflowers, which in turn makes our landscapes more beautiful.
Colorado Inno Awards home design/improvement finalists:
- Havenly
- Kind Home Solutions
