You can say just about anything with flowers, but sending a limp bouquet to your Valentine might make the wrong impression. After Seema Bansal’s boyfriend ordered what turned out to be a disappointing Valentine’s delivery for her one year, the New York-based couple had a business idea. Bansal, a Canadian, and her American partner, Sunny Chadha, founded Venus Et Fleur, a flower company that specializes in boxed roses that it says last an entire year.

The couple, both of whom are in their 20s, worked with a farm in Ecuador to develop a wax-based solution that can preserve each rose’s texture, shape and even some of its scent. Its products don’t come cheap: a single red rose costs $39, while a box of 42 costs upwards of $399. Venus Et Fleur has 44 employees and expects to make between $18 million and $20 million in revenue this year. It is not just a Valentine’s Day business, either. Customers have used the roses to celebrate all kind of occasions, including marriage proposals, birthdays and announcements of a future baby’s sex, Bansal said.