The all-new Shark Tank India has come up with its season 2 on 2nd January 2023. With a new set of sharks this season, all the start-ups are ready to pitch their business ideas and get a perfect deal.
In the first episode of Shark Tank India Season 2, the first pitch was made by two women entrepreneurs with a brand named “Hoovu Fresh.” This startup aims at providing fresh flowers to the spiritual individuals of the country who can use them for puja practices. Yeshodha Karuturi and Rhea Karuturi, the founders of the company, are two women who have stepped into the world of business with their unique idea. Hailing from Bangalore, the two sisters tried to work on their business idea after they completed their education in Washington and Stanford University, respectively.
“Hoovu” is a term that is used for flowers in Karnataka. The business sisters felt that people who need fresh flowers for various essential practices in daily life aren’t able to fetch them. To resolve this problem and lower the leverage speed, they came up with the idea of using in-house techniques to bring fresh flowers to the customers. This company has employed 60 women to work on preparing garlands every single day. The machinery used for the process helps the flowers to be fresh for 2 weeks. In addition, the machinery's functionalities ensure that bacteria and moisture content are controlled for longer life. Presently, this company serves flowers to their customers in eight cities with a sale of over 2 million flowers.
Hoovu Fresh has collaborated with more than 300 temples to reach out to the maximum number of people and
500 farmers who help them achieve their targets. The founders of the company have divided the roles efficiently for an optimum outcome. The CEO of the company is Yeshoda who handles the operations and finance of the business whereas her sister, Riya works as a CTO and manages all the marketing and technology related matters. Their main focus is to connect with vendors who are into the business so that they can serve their customers with fresh flowers.
This story inspires women of all ages to step into entrepreneurship. The challenges one has to face are multiple, but the duo proved they could run a business successfully. Learning online is a significant factor that helps in owning and growing a business. Alippo is a live upskilling platform that helps women understand the necessary skills and start their own businesses. Hoovu is the perfect example of end-to-end women's entrepreneurship. The planning and strategy that they have followed are pretty impressive.
In the beginning, the company started producing packets of flowers which they sold for Rs 10. Eventually, they realized that it was leading to a lot of wastage because of the packaging.
Hence, they planned to package the flowers, reducing the wastage to 3% from 40%. The company has reached out to quick-serving e-commerce websites like Zepto, BigBasket, and so on for the convenience of the customers. While pitching their business, they also stated that there is no competition in the market, so they are running pretty smoothly as a company.
