The floral industry was not new to Yeshoda and Rhea Karuturi, who grew up in a family that owned a thriving flower business.
Observing how the cut-flower industry has changed dramatically through the years, they realised how flowers serve a different need in Indian households.
They noted that while the flower bouquet market is quite organised, the traditional puja flower market needed to catch up.
So they decided to fill that huge market gap by launching Hoovu, which means ‘flower’ in Kannada.
Hoovu has partnered directly with over 50 farmers from states like Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
After the flowers are sourced, they are cleaned to make them bacteria and moisture-free.
This is followed by a quality packing process to keep the flowers fresh for longer, extending its shelf life from two to three days to around 15 days.
From loose flowers to garlands and different greens like tulsi and darbha grass, Hoovu offers a wide range of products.
Other than the subscription system, their products are also available on different online platforms like Big Basket, Grofers, Supr Daily, Zomato, Milkbasket, FTH Daily and Zepto, as well as their own website.
Today, they receive over 1,50,000 orders per month from Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mysore, Pune, Mumbai, Gurugram, and Noida.
Launched with an initial investment of 10 lakh from an angel investor, Hoovu currently clocks a turnover of Rs 8 crore annually.