In 2015, Ankit Agarwal, an engineer from Kanpur, India, witnessed a troubling sight — heaps of decaying temple flowers being dumped daily into the Ganga River, polluting one of India’s most sacred water bodies. What many saw as ritual waste, he saw as an opportunity for change.
Driven by a vision to protect the environment and empower local communities, Ankit quit his stable corporate job and, along with his friend Karan Rastogi, started collecting discarded flowers with the help of a few local women. Working out of a small shed, they began transforming temple waste into eco-friendly products — and thus was born Phool.co, a pioneering social enterprise dedicated to “flowercycling.”
Today, Phool.co processes over 8 tons of floral waste every day, converting it into incense sticks, compost, and even vegan leather known as Fleather, a breakthrough material that has drawn global attention.
The venture has grown into a ₹50 crore enterprise, employing more than 500 women from marginalized communities, providing them with sustainable livelihoods and dignity of work.
Ankit’s story has become a powerful example of how entrepreneurship can solve social and environmental problems. “Being a founder,” he says, “isn’t just about building tech — it’s about building a better world.”
Phool.co stands today not just as a business success, but as a symbol of India’s growing green innovation movement — where waste becomes wealth, and purpose blooms from pollution.
