Floward plans to go public in the next two years and to utilise the funds to further invest in expanding its gifting verticals and relying more on artificial intelligence and machine learning to elevate its customer experience
New Delhi: Online flowers and gifting destination Floward has raised $156 million in its Series C Pre-IPO investment round led by Aljazira Capital, Rainwater Partners and STV. The company plans to go public in the next two years, as shared earlier during an exclusive interview with RetailME.
The company intends to utilise the funds to further invest in expanding its gifting verticals and relying more on artificial intelligence and machine learning to elevate its customer experience and meet the demands of its ever-growing customer base in the region.
Floward will also use the funds to roll out its mergers and acquisitions strategy as it plans to consolidate and invest in local brands that champion different categories of its target gifting verticals. For instance, in November 2022 Floward acquired Kuwait-based brand Mubkhar with presence in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain specialising in fragrances and essential oils.
“We are proud to announce the successful closing of our investment round led by Aljazira Capital, Rainwater Partners and STV. We would like to extend our gratitude for their trust in our team who has achieved remarkable results and driven the company’s valuation to grow by 3.8x since our last funding round a year and a half ago amid the challenging global investment climate. Our commitment to the region has delivered 50 million flower stems in 2022, created more than 1,000 direct jobs and partnered with +400 brands and local talents who have produced some of the best brands on a global scale,” stated Abdulaziz B. Al Loughani, Chairman and CEO of Floward.
With this investment round Faisal AlRahbiny, Chairman & CEO of Rainwater Partners and Marco Mauri, Chief Investment Officer of Aljazira Capital will join the board of directors of Floward. While Ahmad AlNaimi, General Partner of STV will continue being on the board.
To date, Floward has raised over $190 million in investment – $34.2 million through previous investment rounds, the latest of which was $27.5 million in its Series B investment round led by STV and Impact46.
