The Bouqs is a flower delivery company that sells farm-fresh flowers. It also provides a subscription service that lets people schedule when they want to receive flowers. Founder John Tabis pitched his product on Shark Tank but wasn’t able to secure a deal. After the show, Robert Herjavec kept in touch with the entrepreneur and made an investment. Currently, The Bouqs is worth an estimated $50 million.
About the Founders
John Tabis was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has an MBA from UCLA. John interned for several businesses before working in brand strategy at companies such as Universal Music Group and Walt Disney.
Despite appearing on the show by himself, Tabis has a business partner, JP Montufar. JP has an MBA from the University of Notre Dame, and worked in finance earlier in his career.
Founding The Bouqs
Montufar found a good farming spot near a volcano in Ecuador. The small farm benefitted from previous volcanic eruptions, which deposited tons of necessary minerals into the soil. So, JP decided to start planting there.
When John told him about an infuriating experience of ordering flowers online, they started brainstorming ideas. The two guys decided to join forces and make flower delivery a simple but effective process.
They launched The Bouqs in 2012, offering direct delivery and a subscription platform with reasonable pricing. The startup raised $1.1 million in seed funding and gained over $700,000 in less than a year.
Shark Tank Appearance
In little less than a year after launching the business, John Tabis and JP Montufar applied to get onto Shark Tank. John came alone as JP was in Ecuador and appeared on season five, seeking $258,000 for a 3% equity stake,
The Sharks didn’t like the valuation but John made his case by stating how much The Bouqs earned despite having a small budget for marketing. The Sharks were impressed, and they liked the business model.
However, they noticed a couple of holes in the startup, which stopped them from making an offer. Lori didn’t believe the company had a competitive advantage that was sustainable. Barbara dropped out because she didn’t like the name of the brand and would struggle to spell it. Sadly, John went home empty-handed.
After Shark Tank
Despite the setback, John continued to raise money and kept growing the business. Not long after airing, Bouqs started a plantation in California to make same-day and next-day deliveries possible. In 2015, the volcano near their Ecuador location erupted, but it only stopped their activities for a week.
In 2016, Robert Herjavec hired the floral company for his wedding and saw its value first-hand. As a result, Herjavec decided to invest in the business. By 2019, Bouqs had made $88 million in revenue! They also raised another $55 million in funding, which helped them expand to more states. As of October 2023, lifetime sales are $640 million.
In 2020 Bouqs expanded into Japan after raising a $30 million funding round led by the Japanese manufacturer Yamasa. If you want to know if they deliver to your area, visit Bouqs.com. Their website also reveals that they have an average customer rating of 3.7 stars from over 53,500 reviews on Trustpilot. The Bouqs makes around $5.4 million in annual revenue according to Zippia.com.
