Startups That Are Exclusively Working For Female Hygiene
Women are seen as the natural nurturers and caregivers. They look after an entire family without paying much attention to their own health. Despite constituting half the world population, the health and wellness of women is not regarded as important. Menstruation being an inevitable and very important part of every woman’s life cycle is still a stigma in many societies. Women are ashamed to talk about it and often suffer in silence.
As many as 88% Indian women do not have access to safe sanitary products and they rely on unsafe, unhygienic methods of managing their periods. Apart from that women also suffer from issues like PCOD, PCOD, infections due to defecating in open areas etc. In such cases, the reproductive health of the woman deteriorates and she goes through innumerable diseases and problems.
There are many reasons that contribute to this situation for women across the globe. Firstly, lack of awareness among women. Secondly, scarcity of cheap sanitary products in the market. To overcome this grave issue many initiatives have been taken by both the public and private sector. New female hygiene centric startups have popped up and are drawing the limelight because of their applaudable work. Here is a list of some of the great startups who have initiated their journey in this diverse field of women hygiene.
Sirona India
Deep Bajaj, the CEO and co-founder of Sirona India founded the company in 2014. His mission was to break the stigma around menstrual health and promote wellness among women of all strata.
Sirona India sells various products like sanitary napkins, menstrual cups, period pain relief strips, toilet sprays, toilet covers, hair removal razors, pregnancy care kits, intimate wipes and washes etc. Problem of women holding their urine and not finding a clean toilet is very serious. To tackle this issue Sirona launched their key product which was PeeBuddy. A special device which allows women to urinate anytime, anywhere while standing. It completely eliminates the hassle of finding a clean washroom and assists women to travel freely.
Recently, Sirona has received an investment of 100 cr from the Good Glamm Groups and now they are all set to expand their markets.
Products of Sirona are easily available on Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, their own website and even in some offline retail stores.
Proactive for her
Proactive for her is a startup founded in 2020 by Achitha Jacob. She’s an alumni of IIT Bombay and a drop out from Harvard Business School.
Proactive for her offers healthcare services for women throughout their life stage. It is a digital clinic that offers teleconsultation for problems related to PCOD, menstrual health, sexual problems etc. They also have some offline clinics to offer help and assistance to women.
Achitha believes in providing support and help to women related to their intimate problems. She has gathered a team of expert doctors, therapists, nutritionists and gynecologists that provide non judgemental help to their patients. She is on a mission to demolish the stigma around female reproductive health and provide services to women in this area.
Proactive for her has raised an investment of 5.5 million dollars to expand their customer base, product range and launch their flagship clinic in Bangalore.
Carmesi
Tanvi Johri, a chemistry graduate from Hindu College is the co-founder and CEO of Carmesi. She launched the brand in 2017 after suffering from personal issues because of common synthetic sanitary pads. Carmesi was India’s first brand ever to sell natural and 100% biodegradable sanitary products. The pads are made from bamboo fibre and corn starch. Hence, it can be said that Carmesi is a brand that promotes wellness of both women and the environment.
Another issue that she targeted was safe and environment friendly disposal of sanitary napkins. Carmesi products come with a biodegradable disposable bag. Despite being 2.5 times higher than usual sanitary napkins, she has managed to create a huge customer base for her brand. The products are easily available on their website and other online platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Purplle, Nykaa etc
Nua
Nua is one of the leading femtech startups in India. It was founded by Swathi Kulkarni, Projjol Banerjea and Ravishankar Ramachandran in 2017. It offers both products and services related to women’s reproductive health and wellness. They sell sanitary pads, foaming intimate wash, panty liners and a period mix (nutritional drink for women during their menstrual days). They’re also the founders of India’s first unique self heating menstrual cramp comforter. They work on a subscription model and despite the pandemic, they have been able to retain their customers and provide excellent services. They aspire to provide holistic care to all women of our country at their doorstep.
Deepika Padukone, a famous Bollywood actress and model is also an investor of Nua among various others. They are seeing a steady growth and aim to establish a community where problems of women are openly discussed.
Hera
Hera was founded by Vaishnavi Raju in 2020. Hera provides healthcare services and products all under one roof. It functions as two wings- one that sells products related to women’s health and wellness. Second- a platform where information related to women’s health is shared. It is a bridge that shares the problem of the community and offers solutions to them. Hera also helps women in diagnosis of various illnesses at different stages of their life.
From puberty till menopause they tackle all sort of women related issues. Hera has a team of experts that offer personalised solutions to common conditions like PCOD, pregnancy and lactation diets etc. They are creating an awareness among women to take charge of their own health by building a space where they can seek factual information, purchase high quality products and be a part of a bigger community that talks about women related issues. Vaishnavi’s ultimate aim is to educate the women of her own country and then those of the entire world.
Conclusion
It is indeed admirable to see the work of various femcare startups. Apart from the top 5 mentioned above there are several others worthy of our recognition. Avni, Ava, Zealthy, Azah, SanFe, Janani etc are a few more to name. They’ve been doing incredible work in the upliftment of women’s intimate hygiene standards. They work tirelessly to create awareness, launch sustainable and affordable products and provide a safe space for women to discuss their problems and get solutions for the same. They are favoured by government schemes and policies to promote female health and hygiene.
The sad reality is that rural women of India are still deprived of these resources and we can not be truly developed if we do not cater to the needs of those women. The women from this class are not able to afford such means and are also ashamed to even talk about their problems. However, with the small steps that we have started to take we can expect the taboos to diminish. The change has begun and we shall soon witness an India where women are healthier and empowered than ever before. On that note I wish that these startups are able to ace in their targeted areas and provide these basic goods to maximum number of women.
Author: Hardika narang
Hi I'm Hardika Narang, a student of psychology from Chandigarh. I'm an ardent reader, writer and dreamer.
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