IIT Kanpur-backed innovation in race for £1 million award
The Earthshot Prize recognises an accomplished group of entrepreneurs and innovators spearheading ground-breaking solutions to the grave environmental challenges our planet faces.
IIT Kanpur-backed innovation ‘Fleather’ — a regenerative approach to creating leather out of floral waste developed by a start-up Phool.co — has become one of the 15 finalists for the 2022 Earthshot Prize, as announced by William, Prince of Wales, recently, according to a press release.
The Earthshot Prize recognises an accomplished group of entrepreneurs and innovators spearheading ground-breaking solutions to the grave environmental challenges our planet faces. ‘Fleather’ is one of the only two innovations from India shortlisted for the award this year.
Phool.co is a startup founded by Ankit Agarwal and Prateek Kumar in July 2017 with critical incubation support from the Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC), the technology business incubator of IIT Kanpur. The ideation and work to turn floral waste into sustainable products, however, was started by the team in 2015 itself.
With critical R&D support and funding from IIT Kanpur, the Phool team started with incense sticks made from floral waste and then introduced ‘Fleather’ as an alternative to animal-based/plastic leather.
Fleather is now in the race for a £1 million award at the second-annual Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony to be held on December 2 in Boston, said Ankit Agarwal, founder & CEO of Phool.co.
Prof Abhay Karandikar, director IIT Kanpur, congratulated the Phool team.
IIT Kanpur had assisted the start-up with critical R&D and incubation support from the start.
Prof. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, co-Professor-in-charge, Innovation and Incubation, IIT Kanpur, said, “Fleather has been able to resolve the most prevailing environmental challenges through flower waste, which, as an idea, should definitely be globally-recognised.”