Sproutl strengthens executive team with Coo Hire
Fresh from raising a $9 million seed round led by Index Ventures and supported by Ada Ventures, Sproutl, the curated online gardening marketplace, today (19 October 2021) announces that Devin Sinclair will be joining the company in the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer.
Devin will join the team in October 2021 and will work with CEO, Anni Noel-Johnson, to support the execution of Sproutl’s strategy to demystify and democratise gardening, bringing it to a whole new audience and driving digital growth for partner garden centres and nurseries. Devin will oversee all operations and financial functions of the business and take responsibility for the supply side of the growing marketplace.
Devin brings fifteen years of experience across finance, startups and marketplace businesses in South Africa, the UK and the USA. He spent the last seven years as the CEO of Mr D Food, the largest online food delivery marketplace in South Africa. He grew that business to become a market leader, partnering with over 8,000 restaurants, acquiring millions of customers and working with more than 10,000 drivers across the country.
Sproutl co-founders Anni Noel-Johnson, CEO and Andy Done, CTO, comment: “Devin joins Sproutl at an exciting time as we continue our strategy to build a best in class curated gardening platform. He brings a wealth of relevant experience, not least in building strong and empowered teams to execute on scaling a fast-growing eCommerce business. His experience will be important in further improving and developing our proposition and product offering and getting everyone to plant something.”
Devin Sinclair said: “I am incredibly excited to join Anni and Andy and the Sproutl team. I look forward to strengthening their vision to “democratise gardening” and to provide customers with a world-class eCommerce experience while creating a meaningful revenue channel for our marketplace partners.”
Gardening in the UK is experiencing a renaissance.
According to the Horticultural Trade Association, the number of gardeners rose by three million last year, with nearly half of these aged under forty-five. During the lockdown, searches for plants rivalled those for dresses. And Google searches related to gardening have doubled from May 2020 to May 2021. GlobalData estimates that the green-fingered boom shows no sign of abating this year, with spending estimated to rise by seven per cent.
Sproutl is a platform designed to make shopping for gardening hassle-free for consumers and take the pain out of online selling for horticultural suppliers by integrating with their systems. Sproutl manages not only logistics, packaging sourcing, and delivery but also online marketing and customer service. Allowing partner garden centres, shops and nurseries to develop their online presence and reach new national audiences, generating incremental sales.
“To build iconic companies, you need talented individuals working together. Sproutl is building a world-class leadership team and we’re delighted to welcome Devin Sinclair as COO." Danny Rimer, Partner, Index Ventures
“Devin brings fantastic experience of scaling marketplaces in South Africa. We are excited that he’s made the decision to join the Sproutl team to accelerate their plans to be the number one destination for everything you need for your garden.” Check Warner, Partner, Ada Ventures.