Belfast-based Yours Florally has netted seed capital from Lough Shore Investments and angel investor Stephen Lusty, former European head of sales and operations for Google.
The business, which was set up by Mary McKimm in 2012, works through a platform which allows customers to shop for flowers online. The service provides local retailers with e-commerce exposure and has partnered with 100 florists since its establishment.
The undisclosed seed funding will be used by Yours Florally to secure more partnerships in the UK in the coming months, of which it will soon announce the first wave of.
McKimm comments, ‘We’re absolutely delighted to have secured investment from Danny Moore and Stephen Lusty, two of Northern Ireland’s leading angel investors.
‘In particular, it’s a thrill to have access to Danny’s experience in building successful and scalable technology start-ups, while Stephen brings a vast knowledge in the areas of online marketing, e-commerce and data analysis.’
Former Google head Lusty’s other personal investments include his part in a $500,000 backing of app software developer MobiCart alongside the Finance for North East Angel Fund.
Lough Shore Investments was founded by Danny Moore in 2010 and is a Belfast-based seed and early-stage investment firm. It has a goal to bring ten companies to exit or IPO by 2025 through investing in established and start-up companies based primarily in Northern Ireland and Ireland.
It was the firm which, having failed to secure an investment from Dragons’ Den, supported the growth efforts of baggage transportation service SendmyBag through an undisclosed seed round.
More on seed funding deals:
- TouchType secures seed capital
- Scottish inventor nets big backing from seed fund
- Wonga investor backs Archify with seed funding
Moore adds, ‘The attraction of Yours Florally was in their ability to disrupt what is clearly a broken industry, dominated by a small number of very traditional network operators who are focused on “bricks-and-mortar” stores approach.
‘Previously, in order to remain competitive, local traders were forced to join these larger networks and agree to the often onerous demands that came from them. From our very first conversation with Yours Florally, it was clear that they could put the power back in the hands of these disenfranchised local traders whilst offering them an online platform to compete in what is a $7 billion per annum market.’
