June Updates

Wow! June absolutely flew by. What felt like a quick blink after May has turned into July before we even realized it, but don’t think for a second that the Flora team wasn’t hard at work!

This month was all about competition milestones, networking, and big-picture planning. We’re so grateful to have had amazing calls and received great feedback as we continue bringing Flora, and Diana, our AI chatbot, to life.

Development Updates

Development is an ongoing adventure, and lately we’ve been focused on finding ways to speed up the process. We’re incredibly thankful to be working with a software development team through our grant, but we’re also exploring new options to help us hit our ideal launch date of April 2026.

At the end of June, we met with another software company to see if outsourcing some work will help us move faster. One of our MN Cup mentors gave us some great advice: spend your money on the things you’re not good at. That really clicked for us. Outsourcing will not only help with time management but also get Flora into the hands of young girls and their families sooner.

Competition Updates🏆

June was a big month for MN Cup! We kicked off with events on June 5 and June 16, where we focused on creating a strong, winning submission and learned from fellow founders. On June 13, we officially got our mentors (huge win!), and their support has been invaluable in guiding us through the process and helping us see the bigger picture for Flora. We feel so lucky to have this extra support as we continue to refine our pitch and strategy.

Events and Networking

Outside of MN Cup, June was filled with energy and new connections. We had a great networking event on June 12 with Communiful, touring office buildings around North Loop. It got us dreaming about future office spaces and where we can grow. Peep the view from one of our favorite spots:

On June 13th, we met with Former MLB Padres player Carlos Quentin, another founder working with a younger audience, which was a great brainstorming session on reaching parents. He had a ton of great advice on how to build Flora with parents in mind, as they really are the paying customers. Check out Carlos’s company here: https://www.beforethefield.com/

We had more fun networking on June 26th, with a new peer group! This group focuses on women in tech, which we still feel a little out of place at, but getting there! These women come from a variety of backgrounds, whether they are a founder themselves, currently building, were employee number 2, there is definitely a lot of learning to be had.

Goal Setting🤞

At the end of the month, we also held a dedicated brainstorming and goal-planning session to set our sights on what’s ahead. To keep us accountable here is our 6 month goals that we’d like to have done by the end of the year:

• Reach 500 followers on Instagram

• Launch Parent Facebook Groups & Reach 100 Members

• Find Development Team & Build Relationship

• Pay for Website Upgrade

• Product Sales = $2,000

• Flora SEO Rebrand

• Partner 10 Schools to Pilot

We just launched our Facebook group where we’ll be posting more resources and allow parents to share experiences together. You can find that here: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/19RRgftZpM/

As for every other goal, stay tuned for next month to see our progress!

That’s all for now! We’ll see you in August for a recap of July. Enjoy the sunshine!

🩷Justina & Payton