PlantLife grows a social network for plant parents

The Future. PlantLife wants to bring the endless scroll of TikTok to the world of houseplants. With a lot of people becoming “plant parents” during the pandemic, the app could be a powerful tool to reconnect people socially as the world opens up again.

“Where people and plants thrive”
Want to show off your proud plants? There’s about to be an app for that.

• An upcoming iOS app called PlantLife mimics TikTok’s UI… but with only plant-related content.
• Yes, the app asks you to take a photo of yourself and your plants to get started.
• When you identify a plant species you have, the app provides detailed care instructions.
• The app plans to roll out automatic plant-identification tech in the near future.

And because no social platform is complete without them, PlantLife will have influencers (called “plantfluencers”, of course) — they’ll be on the app at launch and will have their own e-commerce shops and lead clubs. These seed celebrities were cultivated from TikTok and Instagram.

Money tree
While a social platform built around plant care and community sounds maybe a bit too niche… it’s actually big business.

• 70% of Millennials claim to be “plant parents” (thanks, COVID).
• The houseplant market is worth $1.7 billion.
• The company projects that it could generate $189 million in revenue in 5 years.
• That should grow more as the company moves into spaces like gardening and plant-based eating.

The app has some major business pedigree behind it, having been founded by CEO Leslie Mullins (formerly of Nike and Apple), chief of products Taylor Vignali (also of Nike and Apple), and chief of plants Lana Pappas (an architectural landscaper and designer). Expect them to grow some capital very soon.