Stemz, Inc
Name: Amy Dunlap
Company: Stemz, Inc.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 336-287-3459
Management
Amy Dunlap, CEO/Founder
20+ year career in the floral industry including owning her own floral studio for 13 years. Amy created STEMZ as a solution to pain points she experienced while trying to source local florals for her business.
Claire Parrish, CMO/Co-Founder
After 18+ years product development & corporate brand/marketing & as an active flower farmer, she brings experience for strategy & growth, along with the voice of the farmer to STEMZ.
Key Advisors/Board Members
Lauren McCullough, Growth Coach/Fractional CRO, Build. Measure. Impact Michael Goff, Product Director, Globant
Industry
Cut Flower Industry
Year Founded
2020
Number of Employees
3 contractors/PT
Current Investors
$65K – personal funds
Monthly Burn Rate
$11,500
Financing Sought
$325,000
Use of Funds
40% – Runway (current fixed expenses + marketing)
30% – MVP Upgrade (retainer + labor to further build out current MVP as we define ideal state)
20% – Increase Staff (operations/sales)
10% – Research (conduct pilots & determine next steps for path to scale with locations)
Business Description
Stemz is scalable, US-grown cut flower distribution powered by intuitive technology, providing a reliable, profitable solution that works for both our wholesale buyers & farm partners.
Company Background
Stemz founder (Amy) owned a floral design business for 13 years. After closing the business, she considered flower farming as a next step. She paused her flower farming plans after the realization that there is not an easy way for wholesale buyers to access local flowers and concurrently flower farmers have difficulty getting their supply into the wholesale market. Amy created Stemz to relieve pain points on both sides of the market to truly strengthen the local cut flower supply chain.
Problem/Solution
While 80% of US floral purchases are imported, floral creatives want access to locally-grown flowers for their diversity, superior quality, consumer preference & sustainability. However, there is no consistent & convenient way to source local flowers. US growers have product to sell, but have difficulty effectively managing growing, marketing, sales & distribution. Frustrated floral buyers then continue to buy imports based on convenience & availability.
Stemz pairs a seamless interface with distribution to connect US flower farms & buyers. Through efficient aggregation & logistics capabilities at regional hubs, Stemz has created a scalable, disruptive system that solves availability & accessibility for buyers. For growers, Stemz provides a profitable sales channel, and proactively provides pricing guidance & trend forecasts, ensuring growers have the right product at the right time for our buyers.
Products/Services
Stemz is the only solution that solves the critical unmet needs of both sides in the floral industry. While options like directories, collective marketplaces/co-ops, online hubs & traditional wholesalers exist, each leaves key issues unaddressed, and/or have constraints that limit their ability to match Stemz’ capabilities. Stemz’s solution is two-fold by addressing these unmet needs using a combination of technology and logistics.
Technologies/Special Know-how
Stemz currently uses no code/low code technology as its MVP. We have the mindset of low cost learning and continue to test/experiment assumptions before building our ideal tech solution. Ultimately, the Stemz tech solution will include IP protected forecasting tools unique to the cut flower industry. The combination of logistics & distribution along with our tech solution creates a high barrier to entry, defensibility & client entrenchment.
Markets
Stemz targets florists & designers in the wholesale market, projecting to source 15% share ($300M) from the import market once at scale nationwide. Industry forecasts suggest a continuing ~10% YOY rise in the overall interest in locally-grown products.
Competition
The most widespread flower-buying option is the foreign import model, which creates a host of lesser known problems, and is mostly attractive for its convenience for large quantity buyers. While co-ops and online marketplaces offer local supply, they lack a distribution system making it inconvenient for buyers and they are limited geographically. The burden of managing logistics at the local level causes tech only solutions to fail to solve the full problem scope. Stemz allows for consistent and convenient floral selection and distribution and is scalable.
Business Model and Distribution Channels
Stemz purchases flowers from regional growers & sells them to florists & designers, along with delivery/service fees. Growers pay an annual membership fee, and growers outside of our service range can purchase our floral forecasting reports to generate additional revenue.