Shark Tank-famed Hoovu to bloom in newer cities, to explore fund raise in second half of 2023

Meanwhile, Yeshoda Karuturi, co-founder of Hoovu, said, “We have seen a huge demand for our non-perishables this year. We are expecting the non-perishable segment to compete with flowers in terms of a revenue split soon.”

The company was never a high burn startup, Rhea added. “From day one, we were profitable.” While unit economics was a priority, sustainability was of utmost importance, the Karuturi sisters said.

The startup procured flowers for their fresh flowers segment from farmers across Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and other states. Meanwhile, for their non-perishable segment, the flowers thrown away by mandis and temples were procured.

The floral supply chain is largely fragmented, unorganised and the wastage is as high as 40 percent. As per estimates, flowers produced in around 22,800 acres of land are thrown away. “Typically in the market, you see around 40 percent of wastage for the flowers. But with our packaging and processing technology the wastage comes down to about 2-3 percent. So, that wastage is miniscule as we manufacture colours, dyes and incense sticks,” Yeshoda said.

Today, Hoovu has a presence in Big Basket, Amazon, Milk Basket, Zepto, Haiko among others. And most of their business comes from online platforms. “But the plan is to expand to modern trade and offline groceries.” The Karuturi sisters believe for this expansion the startup will have to go for another fundraise. The company has raised over Rs 7 crore with two rounds of fund raise. “Right now, we have enough runway. In terms of future fundraising plans, we will look at the second half of this year at raising more funds. This will largely be used to expand our presence in modern trade.”

In addition, the company is looking at scaling up and going to different cities. At present, it has presence in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad. These are warehouses where the packaging and processing takes place. “The next plan is to go to Pune, Delhi and Chennai — these are the next three big cities in our agenda," the sisters said.The pilot project was a success but for deeper penetration into their markets, Hoovu will need more funds. This is where the fund raise will be critical.

The duo appreciate the exposure Shark Tank provided but at the same time, takes pride in the fact that their parents, who were in the floral business in the past, guided them. “Today, we have mentors guiding us in our journey, yet we take advice from our parents.” For the Karuturi sisters, switching off work-related conversation at home is the most difficult task. “Hoovu is like a baby for the family. We just want to talk about it. So for a long-time, we didn’t have a work-life balance.”