BANK ON LOVE

In conjunction with Valentine’s Day, KIRAN PILLAY talks to three entrepreneurial pairs who put the art in partnership when it comes to balancing business and love

- MAX MARA AND HACKETT LONDON

BLOOMTHIS

PENNY CHOO AND GIDEN LIM

If flowers speak the language of love, then Giden Lim and Penny Choo, co-founders of BloomThis, must be Cupid’s fluent emissaries. Established in 2015, the company offers on-demand gifting through an e-commerce platform. BloomThis delivers handcrafted designer floral arrangements, artisanal gifts, and gourmet delights to help people enhance special moments with their loved ones.

The inspiration behind BloomThis takes root in Giden’s upbringing, “My mother is a florist, and I grew up helping her around the flower shop.” The experience of selling flowers on the streets and helping his parents with marketing campaigns sparked an entrepreneurial interest at an early age.

“The problem I observed with the flower business is that they are predominantly brick and-mortar ventures. It offers a poor customer experience for buying and gifting flowers, with little room for innovation,” the ambitious businessman explains. Seeing there was room to leverage technology to create the ideal flower gifting experience, Giden launched a website to sell flowers long before BloomThis came into fruition. Giden showed his creation to his then-colleague, Penny, who was supportive of the enterprise from the start.

“Over coffee, he started showing me his website, and it was quite ugly – but I couldn’t say a word because we worked together. Instead, I told him he was very talented, and I meant it,” Penny admits.