Bloom's $3.6M seed round signals investor appetite for U.S. manufacturing marketplaces
The Detroit-based startup pivoted from a service model to a software-driven marketplace connecting hardware makers with domestic suppliers, capitalizing on renewed interest in American manufacturing.
Justin Kosmides founded Bloom in 2023 with a mission to rescue the mobility sector by handling the operational burdens that had toppled numerous e-bike and e-scooter ventures. Manufacturing bottlenecks, supply chain complexity, and logistics challenges had proven insurmountable for many companies in the space, and Kosmides envisioned Bloom as the solution to absorb these difficult tasks.
The political landscape shifted dramatically when Donald Trump's return to office triggered sweeping tariff policies aimed at revitalizing domestic manufacturing. This shift transformed the competitive terrain, drawing robotics companies, drone manufacturers, and countless other hardware makers into the hunt for reliable U.S.-based suppliers. What began as a mobility-focused opportunity suddenly expanded across the entire hardware ecosystem.
Bloom, headquartered in Detroit, responded by fundamentally restructuring its business. Rather than performing the operational work itself, the company transitioned into a pure marketplace model that brings together buyers and sellers. The new strategy centers on developing supply chain AI agents that help customers identify specific suppliers, source components, and locate manufacturing and engineering capabilities.
This transformation delayed the company's fundraising timeline, but the results speak for themselves. Bloom has facilitated over 2,000 matches across more than 140 companies. Kosmides described the vision in an earlier conversation, saying his startup mirrors "what an AI-driven version of Alibaba did in China, where it created a marketplace for contract manufacturers."
Investors have now embraced the thesis. On Wednesday, Bloom announced a $3.6 million seed round led by SNAK Venture Partners, a firm specializing in marketplace investments. The round also included participation from Flyover Capital, an early-stage investor focused on underserved regions, and Mana Ventures, a deep tech specialist. Regional support came from Detroit Venture Partners, Invest Detroit Ventures, and the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund.
Kosmides expressed relief at closing the funding, stating he's "excited to be done with fundraising and get back to building."
From rejection to backing
SNAK first engaged with Bloom in April of the previous year, during the earliest phases of the company's strategic pivot. The firm initially declined to participate in Bloom's pre-seed round, despite recognizing the founder's potential and the underlying business concept.
We liked the founder and the thesis and passed anyway: we wanted to see more traction. We said so plainly and kept tracking the company.
SNAK Venture Partners
As Bloom evolved into a software-centric platform, the company maintained regular communication with SNAK. By May of this year, Bloom had generated as much revenue in five months as it had accumulated throughout all of 2025. Platform membership had expanded fivefold, and the firm noted minimal customer churn.
This is meant to reiterate that for us, a pass on pre-seed is not always a pass forever. We are fortunate to have a super focused thesis that allows us to track a small set of interesting early stage companies and build a relationship over time.
SNAK Venture Partners
Kosmides acknowledged that fundraising has become increasingly difficult for hardware-adjacent startups. In an environment where leading AI models continuously advance, demonstrating genuine value to investors presents a formidable challenge.
To find investors to actually write a term sheet, not follow one, is getting harder and harder. That's just this new era that we're in, with everyone trying to figure out what's real and what's not, what to invest in.
Justin Kosmides
While Bloom attracted interest from multiple potential backers, Kosmides identified SNAK as the ideal partner. Founded by retail veteran Sonia Nagar, the firm possessed the expertise needed to "build a hopefully category-defining marketplace for mobility, and drones, and all this hardware."
How the matching engine works
Bloom's platform operates as a two-sided marketplace where customers can post contract opportunities while potential suppliers submit bids. The system manages the entire transaction lifecycle, including quotations, scheduling, and payments. Services available through the platform span contract manufacturing, assembly, design and engineering, freight, warehousing, repairs, and hazardous materials shipping.
Kosmides distinguished Bloom's approach from existing parts-focused competitors. He noted that platforms like Fictiv, Xometry, and MacroFab excel at sourcing individual components, but they fall short when a hardware company needs to identify a single provider capable of meeting multiple complex requirements and bidding on a comprehensive opportunity.
Our friends at the parts marketplaces like Fictiv, Xometry, MacroFab and others are really good yesteryear marketplaces for finding one particular part. But when you're XYZ Drone Company, or an electric motorcycle company, and you need to find a provider that meets all these requirements have them all bid on this opportunity, that's a lot more complicated than finding a CNC part.
Justin Kosmides
Building an effective matching system required Bloom to accumulate extensive data on each supplier. Some information came from public sources, such as company websites and self-descriptions. However, between 30 and 40 percent of the data originates directly from the companies themselves, according to Kosmides. As Bloom onboards additional customers and processes more transactions, the dataset grows richer and more valuable.
You can build the craziest model for scraping data but you would never get to that accuracy. We started with manually booking services, and then built in layers and pieces and understanding as we built up the provider network, as we built out more and more transactions, and so it's only getting better and better.
Justin Kosmides
Kosmides contends that this approach strengthens supplier relationships and reduces barriers to entry for emerging hardware companies. Beyond that, he sees the platform as a vehicle for elevating small manufacturers who lack substantial marketing or sales infrastructure.
He pointed to a Michigan contract manufacturer that previously accepted miscellaneous work, such as refurbishing Nest thermostats and Bird scooters or fabricating Chick-fil-A display components. After joining Bloom, the same company now competes for drone assembly contracts.
The ability to discover, and the ability to do matchmaking, that is what I think is truly missing from U.S. manufacturing. That just doesn't exist electronically.
Justin Kosmides