From Blooming Wastes to a Booming Revolution

Even though flowers signify immense devotion while being offered at shrines and religious places, it can often be found polluting and clogging water bodies after being discarded. This sight of floral waste recklessly being dumped into water bodies across the nation gave way to the idea of transforming it into something useful, which led to the start of Phool’s beyond extraordinary and sustainable venture in 2017.

Phool’s journey is everything but conventional!

From an extraordinary product idea to the even more astonishing decision to set up headquarters far from tier-1, tier-2 cities known for being startup hubs of India, to employing and empowering women who previously cleaned manual latrines, it has given a new life to everything and everyone it has been associated with.

htraction brings to you the Startup Spotlight of the week with showcasing the ventures of Phool.

Origins and Planning

Founded by the duo, Ankit Agarwal and Prateek Kumar in 2017, Phool launched to solve a blatantly visible but a neglected problem; the 8 million tons of temple florals discarded each year into sacred rivers, such as the Ganga, resulting in pollution of our water bodies and accumulation of toxic chemicals.
With their determination and vision to give such waste a second life, Phool set up its headquarters far from the traditional choices in Kanpur, to get easy access to waste materials and spent 1.5 years researching sustainable means of turning waste florals into eco-friendly products, including organic incense sticks and vermicompost.

The Execution

Traditional Incense sticks use charcoal as their primary base material, which releases carcinogenic toxins and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) when burned.
Inhaling emissions from incense sticks has been associated with respiratory problems, lung irritation, and exposure to indoor air pollution, almost making them an elusive health hazard for the billions of people using them daily.
Keeping this in mind, Phool ideated to use dried temple flowers to formulate a product 100% organic and free of toxic chemicals, instead of charcoal-based incense sticks. 

To create the product, Phool partnered with temples in the area to collect the used flowers that would typically be thrown into local rivers. The flowers were prepped, sorted, cleaned, sun-dried, and mixed with natural binding agents to create organic incense sticks that were handcrafted.
Phool’s mausoleums were biodegradable, non-toxic, and they were able to preserve the original flower scent — offering an upcycled product that was a healthier alternative to consumers.
What started as a small pilot project in Kanpur continued to spread into a phenomenon as consumers learned more about the environmental and health benefits of a product made of charcoal in the incense burning process.

Major Milestones

In 2018, Phool was recognised with the World Changing Idea Award by Fast Company.
It developed Florafoam in 2019, a biodegradable alternative to thermocol, disrupting the packaging industry.
Raised $8 million in Series A funding, led by Sixth Sense Ventures and Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt as an investor in 2021
By 2023, diverted 11,060 metric tons of flower waste from polluting rivers.

Phool’s Growth: Innovation, Impact & Recognition 

Phool has successfully achieved its growth by blending product innovation, social impact, and marketing strategy to facilitate scale and market expansion.   

• Product diversification: Phool launched with hand-rolled incense sticks, and subsequently expanded products with essential oils, organic compost, and Florafoam (a biodegradable substitute for Styrofoam). This multi-product vertical enabled dual consumer bases, spiritual consumers and sustainability-oriented businesses.  
• Tech-driven operations: Phool used AI-enabled supply chains to enhance the waste collection process, reducing costs and increasing logistical operations. A marketing partnership with WebEngage acquired a 23% increase in online sales, fortifying its online presence.  
• Social impact and ethical hiring: Phool’s Flowercyclers initiative employs 347 women from marginalised communities, ensuring fair wages and dignified means of work and income. This exemplary ESG positioning was a compelling investment opportunity for impact investors.  
• Media endorsements: Investment from Alia Bhatt in 2021 provided a more generalist exposure and appeal, especially towards Millennials.
  And with being featured in Forbes, National Geographic, and the BBC, Phool is strategically taking its place as a global leader in sustainable entrepreneurship.

Financial Performance & Market Impact

• Revenue Growth: In FY 2022-23, Phool recorded a 130% YoY revenue increase with an aim to hit $100 million by 2028.
• Global expansion into Europe & the US  with Florafoam, targeting big sustainability-focused brands. 

The Future: Can Phool Become a Unicorn?

With a highly scalable business model, strong ESG backing, and international demand for sustainable alternatives, Phool has all the makings of India’s next $1B sustainable startup.
Challenges Ahead:

• Scaling Florafoam’s production cost-effectively.
• Overcoming logistics and supply chain hurdles in temple waste collection.
• Expanding B2B partnerships with global eco-conscious brands. 

Phool is more than a startup—it’s a movement. By solving environmental, social, and economic problems in one go, it stands as a global benchmark for sustainable business.
As climate-conscious investors continue to look for eco-friendly unicorns, Phool might just be India’s most valuable green disruptor.

At htraction, we are excited to help startups like Phool.co that produce a positive impact while innovating towards their vision because we do believe in the power of AI-driven, tech-enabled, and socially-conscious impactful ventures that can lead to a better future!
Phool’s story demonstrates the rationale for how vision, technology, and sustainable impact can be realised for social good, and if you are ready to begin working on your next (eco-friendly), scalable and disruptive sustainable idea, we are here to help you and accelerate your progress!