Alia Bhatt-backed "Phool", incense sticks from discarded temple flowers to make "Fleather" after "Florafoam"

Temple Flower Waste Upcycling Company Phool.Co has announced that actor Alia Bhatt has joined the PHOOL family as an investor. Earlier, Phool.co had raised $2 million in a seed round from IAN Fund, Social Alpha (FISE), Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (San Francisco), and IIT Kanpur.

Phool was born 2017 when Ankit Agarwal, an engineering graduate, set out on a mission to preserve the Ganges River by collecting the floral waste from temples and mosques that is dumped in the river and flower-cycling (upcycling) it into patented fertilizer and incense sticks, branded as Phool.

Phool incense stands out for its fine natural fragrances and amazing packaging. I admire the founder’s vision of making incense and bio-leather from recycled flowers that contribute to keeping our rivers clean, creating a humane alternative to leather and providing employment to women in India’s heartland. - Alia

The company has also developed ‘Fleather‘ leveraging their flower cycling technology. This is a viable alternative to animal leather which was recently awarded PETA’s best innovation in the Vegan World.

Earlier, the team had developed a 27% cheaper alternative to thermocol. It is high-performing, mouldable, durable and potentially the world’s first-ever biodegradable thermocol – Florafoam.