‘The Beautiful Bunch’ supporting refugee women crowdfunds $37,000 to expand floristry business

A Melbourne-based floral enterprise that supports women from refugee backgrounds to bloom has crowdfunded $37,000 in a bid to continue its mission and expand the business model across Australia.

The Beautiful Bunch, which was founded by Jane Marx in 2020, is a social enterprise that creates work for women who have recently migrated to Australia and helps them on the path to fulfilling their dreams. 

Recently, Marx and The Beautiful Bunch team were invited to pitch at The Funding Network Australia’s live crowdfunding event on March 9, where they walked away with $37,000 to keep the enterprise going. The Funding Network is a non-profit organisation that provides a platform to raise funds and create connections for Australia’s brightest social entrepreneurs.

Marx told SmartCompany that the financial backing will go a long way towards expanding The Beautiful Bunch business model across Australia to provide even more opportunities for young women from refugee and migrant backgrounds

“On the night we didn’t have a figure in mind and I hadn’t been able to do any kind of pre-fundraising because we have just been so flat out. We were just hopeful that we’d go and get the $20,000 that they kind of say you should expect and then to raise nearly double that was phenomenal,” she says.

“I think the real value of the evening, whilst it is fantastic for raising the funds that you receive on the night, is it opens you up to a different audience and meeting different people outside of your immediate network. 

“It’s great to have the opportunity to be exposed to so many people who are interested in hearing about your cause and who have the capacity to help you grow and help you scale considerably.”

The Beautiful Bunch is the only Victorian not-for-profit working specifically with young women from refugee backgrounds who are experiencing barriers to employment.  

This includes a training program, that runs for approximately six months, delivered by The Beautiful Bunch in partnership with Melbourne florists and mentors, which teaches both foundational floristry skills and computer literacy and business administration skills — vital transferable skills that set trainees up for future success. 

Marx says the new funding will also enable The Beautiful Bunch to fast-track its planned expansion into event floristry.

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“At the moment we’re just a retail florist. We have a good Monday to Friday where we do daily orders for customers, individuals and businesses,” she says.

“This funding will enable us to start the expansion and go a long way to covering costs that we need covered, and it will also allow us to spend some money training our existing and new staff in how to do floral design, and execution for event florals. 

“It’s going to have a big impact and it means that we’re able to actually fast track our expansion into event florals, which was something that we kind of flagged that we’d be really interested in trying to raise funds in the next six months to hopefully do. 

“But now that we’re receiving this funding, it’s going to enable us to kick it off in the next month or so. The first step here is to look at getting more trainees on board, so it’s going to be crucial for our expansion.”