How did the Bergamotte project come about?

In 2012, my co-founder Loïc and I had established our first startup, Localers,  which connected foreign travellers with local guides in France for unique experiences. The terrorist attacks in 2015 and their consequences on tourism in France, and particularly in Paris, pushed us to consider a quick fall-back solution.

We wanted to continue working in B2C but we had no preconceived ideas. We came into the world of flowers completely by chance, in a set of coinciding circumstances: a TechCrunch article about an American company with the same activity, a visit to the international fresh wholesale market of Rungis where we met our future supplier who would later become our shareholder, and an argument with my wife that gave me a golden opportunity to test competing offers…

All this shaped our desire to reinvent the way flowers were delivered online. The market was in a strong oligopolistic situation at this time, with leading players who had not changed their value proposal for a long time. We thought that the way to find our product market fit was not to disrupt the industry, but simply to reshape the customer experience in depth across the entire value chain, with the extra idea of embodying the first strong brand in this fairly competitive sector.

In the end, it was the tech/brand alliance that helped us to emerge quite quickly.

What brought you to the exit?

After several funding rounds, we realised that our initial business model was not sustainable in the long term; we were not able to reduce our losses despite an increase in volume. It was a constant headlong rush… We were doubling our turnover – and our losses. So we overhauled our entire business model. The COVID crisis came a few months later, when our company was profitable, and we emerged from it stronger. Our strong position was what attracted our future buyer, Bloom & Wild, in the summer of 2020.

The discussions about a potential acquisition came at a time when we were thinking of anything but selling, as our economic reorganisation was a great success. It took us six months to accept that an acquisition was the best solution for Bergamotte. After all, our growth was not endless, despite our successful launch in Germany and Austria, and we were aware that our self-financing capacity would not allow us to take the lead in Western Europe. We had two options: to raise funds again, but with the risk of falling back into past failures (i.e. increasing losses and a not-quite-linear turnover), or to consider an LBO. At that time, we were not considering any other solutions because we no longer believed in industrial takeovers.

In the end, the M&A option came about by chance but it allowed us to consider a scenario that combined the advantages of a funding round and an LBO, since we would have quick liquidity and the ability to fuel our ambition in terms of development both in France and in Europe.

In January 2021, six months after being approached by Bloom & Wild, we came to realise that M&A was the best solution.

What are your tips for a successful exit?

1-    Meet your competitors as early as possible and maintain good relations with them: you never know where the exit will come from.

2-  Involve all stakeholders at the capitalisation table at an early stage: as an entrepreneur, it is essential to have the support of the entire board and shareholders.

3- Involve a handful of managers to get their support: these managers will be ambassadors of the deal internally and can help employees deal with the news and the shock of an exit. This also means that the entrepreneurs can focus on the M&A deal, while the managers handle everyday matters.

4- Talk with your entrepreneurial peers: there is nothing instinctive about exiting and everything is new – it is therefore essential to surround yourself with entrepreneurs who have already carried out exits and who can provide essential advice on how to conduct negotiations.

5-  Get experienced lawyers: it is vital to secure the services of experienced lawyers who have already successfully completed this type of exit and who will therefore be able to bring the negotiations to a positive conclusion.

What was the hardest part between launching Bergamotte, raising funds and exiting?

Definitely the exit! The exit is a heritage issue, but it is also a big human issue because the teams are already in place. As a deal can end at any time: the exit brings high levels of emotional stress.