Léon & George

Since 2016, consumer spending on plants is up 60%, creating a $48 billion market.

Leon & George is targeting this market with a new way to shop for plants.

In an industry dominated by big-box retailers and outdated sales methods, Leon & George offers an all-inclusive plant-purchasing experience.

Specifically, the company enables customers to select houseplants online, teaches them how to care for their plants, and delivers them straight to their door.

Since launching in 2017, Leon & George has brought in $3 million in revenue from more than 10,000 customers, and completed the Y Combinator accelerator program. The company has received investments from Day One Ventures and Soaring Startup Circle Venture Partners.

To date, the majority of its revenue has come exclusively from the California market. Now the company is gearing up to expand its brand nationwide.

The plant industry is similar to the market for another household product: mattresses.

Historically, mattresses were sold offline in an outdated fashion by retailers. However, the arrival of direct-to-consumer companies like Casper and Purple brought this product online, added convenience and quality, and increased the size of the market.

In 2017, Purple agreed to a $1.1 billion merger, and as of March 2019, Casper was valued at more than $1 billion. Meanwhile, the U.S. mattress industry has grown to $14 billion.

The plant industry is more than 3x the size of the mattress market.

Collin Ching, a writer for The Hustle, a digital tech-focused publication, summed up the future of the plant industry by saying:

“Don’t believe the houseplant hype? Consider how fast the online mattress industry grew. In just seven years, it went from $162 million to $1.7 billion in annual sales, driven by more than a dozen startups cumulatively worth billions. Indoor plant startups have comparable potential.”

Despite the market’s size, roughly 80% of plant sales happen offline in hardware stores and small nurseries. Often, this results in a cumbersome, confusing, impersonal experience for consumers.

Leon & George is disrupting this process with its direct-to-consumer plant business.

The company offers several different types of plants through its website, including small plants, low-light plants, and plants that are optimal for small spaces or pet-friendly homes.

Prices vary depending on the size of the plant, and range between $70 and $250. While other plant companies sell plants that come with plastic pots, Leon & George offers premium ceramic decorative pots with each plant.

Plants are packed with multi-day heat packs for shipments going to cold places. And each plant is hand-picked to ensure only the best quality greens are sent to customers.

Leon & George achieves a 48% product margin on each plant sold. The company is focusing on purchasing in bulk to improve its margins, and projects this figure to reach 60% by early 2020, and 71% by 2021.

18% of customers place multiple orders, and the average order value is $351. Leon & George acquires customers through paid advertising, organic searches, and word-of-mouth referrals.

Although the company is primarily a direct-to-consumer brand, a growing portion of its revenue — roughly 20% right now — is from larger organizations and businesses unsatisfied with outdated office plant services. B2B customers include Facebook, Buzzfeed, hims, and Indeed.

In 2019, Leon & George expects to double its 2018 revenues, and projects to become profitable in 2020.

Team Background

Nicolas Bartoli - Co-Founder

Nicolas has a background in software engineering.

Most recently, he was a growth product manager for WyzAnt Tutoring, an Internet services company. Prior to that, he was a technical product manager for Merchant Atlas, a computer software company that was acquired in 2016 by Adloop, an Internet publishing platform.

He spent two years as a front-end software engineer for Mobile Spinach, a company offering IT solutions to sales-based businesses, and was a researcher at Georgetown University’s Center for Intercultural Education and Development.

Nicolas earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Faculte des sciences Aix-Marseille.

Ron Radu - Co-Founder

Ron began his career as a fellow with True Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage tech startups.

He then moved on to become a product manager and designer for Palomino Labs, a software company that built projects for clients including BenchPress and Powergremlin. In 2014, Palomino Labs was acquired by American Express.

Ron spent the next two years as a senior product manager for American Express, before deciding to start Leon & George in 2017.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems and Marketing from Boston College.

Renee Christensen - Lead Content Strategist

Renee joined Leon & George in 2018.

Before that, she worked for Devour Tours, a travel and tourism company, managing operations in Barcelona, Spain.

Prior to that, she spent four years in Barcelona and Madrid as an English language instructor.

Renee earned a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Spanish from Vanderbilt University.

Barbie Lucio - Chief Brand Officer

Before joining Leon & George, Barbie was a program manager for Amplifier Strategies, a company helping philanthropists and social enterprises achieve their goals.

Prior to that, she was a contracted project manager for Google, and before that worked as a research assistant at Georgetown University.

She earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies from University of California, Irvine and an MBA from the Aix-Marseille School of Management.

Co-Investors

Y Combinator

Seed-stage accelerator whose alumni include Scribd, Reddit, Airbnb, Dropbox and Stripe

Day One Ventures

An early-stage VC firm investing in technology-related startups.

Soaring Startup Circle Venture Partners

A VC fund created by Boston College alums offering funding and mentorship to startups.