Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt has invested in Phool.co, a start-up backed by IIT-Kanpur that converts floral waste into charcoal-free luxury incense products. Founded in 2017 by engineering graduate Ankit Agarwal, Phool.co has also received Fair for Life - Fairtrade and Ecocert Organic & Natural certificates.
Using its 'flowercycling' technology, the start-up has launched a product that it calls 'Fleather' -- an alternative to animal leather made with flowers.
In the media release announcing the investment, Alia is quoted as saying: "I admire the founder's vision of making incense and bio-leather from recycled flowers, thereby contributing to keeping our rivers clean, creating a humane alternative to leather and providing employment to women in India's heartland."
Previously, Phool.co had raised $2 million in seed funding from the IAN Fund (New Delhi), Social Alpha FISE (Bangalore), Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (San Francisco), and IIT-Kanpur.
Speaking on the investment by Alia, the IIT-Kanpur Director, Abhay Karandikar, commented: "The innovative 'flower cycling technology by PHOOL' has enabled sustainable and eco-friendly waste flower management and the uplift of hundreds of women along the way."
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