In 2023, Justin Kosmides co-founded Bloom with the ambition of becoming a transformative force in the mobility sector. He observed that numerous e-bike and e-scooter enterprises had faltered due to their reluctance or inability to outsource critical challenges such as logistics, manufacturing, and supply chain development. Kosmides aimed to persuade both established players and newcomers to allow Bloom to manage these complex tasks on their behalf. However, following Donald Trump’s re-election, a wave of tariffs was imposed on numerous countries, partly to stimulate domestic manufacturing in the United States. This development intensified an already burgeoning hardware landscape, attracting not only mobility companies but also robotics startups, drone manufacturers, and others seeking to enhance their local supply chains. This presented Bloom, headquartered in Detroit, with a significant opportunity, but it necessitated a partial reinvention of the startup.
Rather than focusing on the more challenging, behind-the-scenes operations that were central to its initial strategy, Bloom transitioned to a pure marketplace model, facilitating connections between buyers and sellers. The company is now dedicated to developing supply chain AI agents that assist its clients in identifying specific suppliers, parts, or engineering and manufacturing services. Although this shift delayed Bloom’s fundraising efforts, the startup has successfully facilitated over 2,000 matches for more than 140 companies and is eager to accelerate its growth.
In an interview earlier this year, Kosmides, who serves as Bloom’s CEO, likened his startup to an AI-driven version of Alibaba, which established a marketplace for contract manufacturers in China. Investor interest has finally materialized, as Bloom announced a $3.6 million seed funding round on Wednesday, led by SNAK Venture Partners, a firm specializing in marketplace investments. Other participants included Flyover Capital, focused on early-stage investments in less populated states, and deep tech firm Mana Ventures. Local investors comprised Detroit Venture Partners, Invest Detroit Ventures, and the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund. Kosmides expressed relief during the interview, stating he is “excited to be done with fundraising and get back to building.”
SNAK initially met with Bloom in April of the previous year, during the early phases of its transformation. At that time, the firm opted not to invest in Bloom’s pre-seed round. “We appreciated the founder and the concept but chose to pass: we wanted to observe more traction,” the firm noted in a blog post. “We communicated this clearly and continued to monitor the company’s progress.” Bloom maintained communication with SNAK as it evolved into a more software-centric startup. By May of this year, Bloom had generated as much revenue in just five months as it had in the entirety of 2025. SNAK also reported that the number of memberships on its platform had increased fivefold, with low churn rates, indicating that few customers were canceling their subscriptions. “This serves to emphasize that a pass on pre-seed does not equate to a permanent rejection. We are fortunate to have a highly focused thesis that enables us to track a select group of promising early-stage companies and cultivate relationships over time,” the firm stated.
Kosmides remarked that the fundraising environment has become increasingly cutthroat for startups like Bloom. Demonstrating value to investors in an era where leading AI models are constantly evolving can be a formidable challenge. “Securing investors willing to issue a term sheet, rather than merely following one, is becoming progressively more difficult,” he noted. “This is simply the new landscape we find ourselves in, with everyone attempting to discern what is genuine and what is not, and where to allocate their investments.” Kosmides indicated that Bloom did pursue other term sheets but emphasized that SNAK, founded by seasoned retail executive Sonia Nagar, is the ideal partner to “build a hopefully category-defining marketplace for mobility, drones, and all this hardware.”
Bloom’s platform effectively manages both sides of supplier relationships. Some clients utilize the platform to post contract opportunities, while others bid on those opportunities. Bloom oversees quoting, booking, and payment processes entirely on its platform, and it now facilitates matches between companies and suppliers capable of providing contract manufacturing, assembly, design and engineering, freight, warehousing, repairs, and even hazardous materials shipping. “Our colleagues at parts marketplaces like Fictiv, Xometry, MacroFab, and others excel as traditional marketplaces for sourcing individual components,” Kosmides explained. “However, when you are XYZ Drone Company or an electric motorcycle manufacturer needing to find a provider that meets multiple criteria and have them all bid on this opportunity, it becomes significantly more complex than simply locating a CNC part.”
Ensuring the effectiveness of this system is a crucial aspect of Bloom’s reinvention, which involved the assimilation of extensive data about each provider on the platform. Much of this information is publicly available—such as how a company presents itself on its website—but approximately 30-40% of the data is sourced directly from the companies themselves, according to Kosmides. When combined with the data generated as the startup onboards additional customers and facilitates more matches, this constitutes Bloom’s competitive advantage. “You could develop the most sophisticated model for data scraping, but you would never achieve that level of accuracy,” he stated. “We began with manual service bookings and then layered in components and insights as we expanded our provider network and increased transaction volumes, leading to continual improvement.”
Kosmides believes this approach fosters more effective supplier relationships and simplifies the startup process. He also contends that Bloom’s platform will create opportunities for smaller manufacturers lacking substantial marketing budgets or sales teams. He cited an example of a Michigan-based contract manufacturer that, prior to collaborating with Bloom, was engaged in miscellaneous tasks such as refurbishing Nest thermostats and Bird scooters or working on Chick-fil-A displays. That same company is now actively bidding on drone assembly contracts. “The capacity for discovery and matchmaking is what I believe is fundamentally lacking in U.S. manufacturing,” he asserted. “Such capabilities do not exist in an electronic format.”
