Plank-backed online flower firm to open here this month

UrbanStems, the online flower company with financial backing from Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, is expanding to Baltimore at the end of the month.

The fast-growing web start-up delivers bouquets for $35 and up via bicycle courier, now just in NewYork and Washington. The company works with growers in South America, which ship flowers daily to UrbanStems distribution centers, where bouquets are arranged and sent out for delivery. Senders get an email confirmation with a photo of the bouquet just before the courier delivers it.

Two former college roommates started the company in Washington in 2014 after becoming frustrated trying to send flowers through traditional online options. Under UrbanStems’ model, a rotating, but limited, selection of arrangements at set prices, can be ordered online, then delivered in as little as an hour.

Plank’s private venture capital arm, Sagamore Ventures, first invested in a $1.5 million seed funding round in February 2015. In April, Sagamore joined a $6.8 million funding round led by SWaN & Legend Venture Partners, enabling UrbanStems to expand.

The Baltimore operation will be staffed initially by about four employees, including distribution center managers and bike couriers, said Lauren Bates, head of marketing for UrbanStems. The Baltimore launch is slated for July 25.

Bates said the company has been “growing like crazy. ... The thing we hear over and over is our experience is so seamless.”