Making plant care fun, easy, and better for the planet.
Every year, billions of houseplants are sold around the world. Industry research suggests that up to half of them die within the first year — not because their owners don't care, but because they don't know how. Overwatering, underwatering, wrong light, wrong soil. The information is out there, but it's scattered across forums, blogs, and conflicting advice.
Every plant that dies unnecessarily is a waste — not just of money, but of the significant environmental resources that went into producing it. Each greenhouse-grown houseplant carries an estimated 1 to 5 kg of embedded CO2 from cultivation, heating, transportation, and plastic packaging. When those plants end up in landfill instead of being composted, the organic matter decomposes anaerobically and releases methane — a greenhouse gas up to 80 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period.
The scale of this problem is enormous. The global ornamental plant industry is worth tens of billions of euros annually, with the Netherlands alone accounting for a significant share through Royal FloraHolland, the world's largest flower and plant auction. If even a fraction of the plants that die each year could be kept alive through better care, the environmental impact would be substantial.
We believe the answer isn't more information — it's better habits. Florio is a mobile app that turns plant care into something you actually look forward to. Instead of just telling you when to water, Florio makes the whole experience engaging through smart reminders, care tracking, streaks, quests, and a playful companion character that grows alongside your plants.
The gamification isn't a gimmick — it's backed by behavioral design principles. By rewarding consistency and making progress visible, Florio helps plant parents build lasting routines. When people stick with their plants, fewer plants die, less CO2 is wasted, and more homes stay green.
Florio was founded by Tim Joosten and Mick Abbas, both students in Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands. Our background in design thinking, user research, and product development shapes everything we build — from how the app feels in your hand to how we approach the environmental problem we're tackling.
We started Florio because we saw a disconnect: people genuinely want to take care of their plants, but the tools available to them are either too basic (a generic reminder app) or too complex (horticultural reference databases). We wanted to build something in between — smart enough to be useful, fun enough to stick with.
We're building Florio to become the go-to companion for every plant owner. Our roadmap includes AI-powered plant identification, personalized care plans based on your local climate, community features to connect plant parents, and deeper insights into your plants' health over time.
But beyond the product, our goal is bigger: we want to measurably reduce the number of houseplants that die unnecessarily each year, and with it, the carbon footprint of the ornamental plant industry. Every plant that thrives is a small win for the planet.