Three years ago, Aabesh De left his customer service job at Microsoft to work on an idea that became his plant sensor startup, Flora. On an episode of “Shark Tank” that aired Feb. 16, the 29-year-old founder and CEO earned a deal worth $300,000 for his houseplant care solutions.
Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner gave De $300,000 for 15% equity and 5% advisory stock, along with a $2 per unit royalty until he recoups his investment. De revealed that Flora made $192,000 in gross sales last year, but she is still not profitable.
Flora came to life when she tried and failed to keep her houseplants alive during the pandemic. He was overwhelmed by the plethora of items available and the different instructions needed to care for various species of houseplants. More personally, he was frustrated that every plant he touched kept dying, even a precious plant his mother had given him.
“My dear mother gave me her precious rose plant that she’s had for years,” De said on Shark Tank. “And I ended up killing him in eight short days.”
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De was looking for a product that could act as a health tracker for his plants. When he couldn’t find it, he invented it: The Flora Pod is a small $64 accessory that reaches beyond the soil surface of an indoor or outdoor plant and acts as a trainer to keep it alive. It makes sure that the plant receives enough water and light and informs the user if something is wrong.
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Another Flora offering is the popular app, which has reached more than 300,000 people in 190 countries. The pod is not required to use the app; App users can set custom reminders, scan their plant for information about its species, and earn game-like rewards while caring for their plants.
Flora also offers locally sourced houseplants for sale online.
De started his business from scratch, teaching himself what he needed to know about electronics and computing so he could build the prototype humidity sensor for the Flora Pod and code the Flora iOS app.
“It’s been incredibly rewarding to see how far we’ve come,” De said at his alma mater, Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.