Marking a revolution in menstrual hygiene and intimate care, Pune-based startup ‘Avni’, founded in 2021 by Sujata Pawar and Apurv Agrawal, has emerged as an innovative business model with its sustainable and organic sanitary pads and other menstrual products.
The couple invested around Rs 30 lakh and raised Rs 65 lakh last April. They are looking forward to completing a second round this year.
Avni’s products include organic cotton and polyester cloth pads that are washable and reusable in the way women from earlier generations practised, as well as disposable cotton pads that come in packs of four, 12 and 24. There are also reusable menstrual cups and cotton panty liners, among others. By the end of 2023, five more products will be added. The products are made from natural ingredients and hand-stitched by women across the country.
During the research and awareness campaigns conducted for the products, Pawar was surprised by the amount of “misunderstandings and myths” surrounding menstruation. “Women go through periods every month for many years of their lives. But even women of 25 and above have no idea of a lot of things, such as why do periods happen, what happens inside the body at this time or what it means to miss a period?” she says.
“Women always hesitate when it comes to choosing good quality intimate health products though there is proven evidence that plastics and chemicals present in most sanitary pads get absorbed in the body and do reproductive harm. Our primary focus is to strengthen our presence in the menstrual and intimate care range by launching more products that are relevant to this category,” adds Pawar.
Indian women’s hygiene products market was calculated at Rs 32.66 billion in 2020 by Research and Markets and is estimated to reach Rs 70.20 billion by 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of 16.87 per cent. Much of this is dominated by multinational companies. To make a dent in this market, Avni has tied up with women, doctors and experts at a 24×7 support centre to help women who are grappling with switching their period products to a more holistic one.
“We are aggressively working on the awareness front, where we will be launching products that people can have access to increase their knowledge. The pilot campaign started last year that was conducted by a paediatrician was for mothers of very young girls and dealt with issues such as discussing the topic of periods with children,” says Pawar. The workshops will be online, though the company is planning programmes to reach out to schools and colleges for mass impact.
Avni’s products are aligned with the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), which is concerned with information, education and communication regarding menstrual hygiene management and safe disposal initiatives. SBM stresses in its campaigns that “many sanitary pads are manufactured using materials such as super-absorbent polymers, plastic and glue, which may take up to 500 to 800 years to decompose”. Avni’s pads are easily disposable.
“In certain issues of intimate health, change will come within two to five years. We see a lot of doctors and experts who have started to talk about intimate health care. We see a lot of brands that have started entering this category. Once we have more players and educators, you can definitely see an upsurge in the category. It is a combined effort of all of these stakeholders that will help the category to move up,” says Pawar.
