Hoovu Fresh bags INR 10 million in Shark Tank from Aman Gupta and Peyush Bansal

• ByStartupStory     |    January 5, 2023

Bengaluru-based floral startup  Hoovu Fresh has raised funding of Rs 10 million from Shark Tank India investors Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt Lifestyle, and Peyush Bansal, founder of Lenskart.com.

The show, which is currently in its second season, shows business owners giving pitches about their start-ups to a group of investors, also known as “Sharks,” who then decide whether to invest in the company.

The startup has raised $790k in a pre-series A round led by Sauce.VC in December 2022.

Hoovu was founded in 2019 by Yeshoda Karuturi and Rhea Karuturi – sisters who had just returned to India after studying in America. Flowers were always a part of their life as their parents owned rose farms from 1994, the year
Yeshoda was born. But while cut rose production, which their family business was engaged in, grew leaps and bounds, the puja flower industry looks very different. It was when Yeshoda saw her mother doing her daily puja that the idea of Hoovu was born: because puja is how most Indians interact with flowers everyday.

Hoovu has developed processing and packaging technology that extends the shelf life of these traditional flowers from 2-3 days to 15 days. By working directly with small farmers to get flowers fresh from harvest and processing
them within 12 hours, Hoovu is able to lock in freshness so every puja is done with the best flowers.

In the past year, Hoovu has expanded its offerings to temples as well. Hoovu does the decoration at ISKCON Bangalore amongst many other temples. Hoovu’s offerings also include agarbathis (made with recycled temple flowers), dhoop sticks, kumkum, turmeric and other puja essentials. During festivals, the brand has curated festival packages to ensure a beautiful and seamless puja experience. During Ganesh Chathurthi this year, Hoovu worked with Art Of Living to offer eco-friendly Ganesha Idols.

Hoovu has operations in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Flowers can be ordered through Big Basket, Zepto, Milk Basket and other grocery apps. Hoovu  also offers agarbathis made out of recycled temple flowers and other pujasamagri which can be found on hoovufresh.com.

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