Tampons, reinvented
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A startup tampon brand is aiming to disrupt the world of menstrual products with a patented spiral design for fewer leaks.
Why it matters: It's "the first engineering redesign of the tampon in 80 years" according to Sequel, which aims to change the game for women athletes.
Driving the news: Sequel gained FDA approval for its tampons last August and just started selling them online in New York, Texas and California.
How it works: "We've introduced a helical spiral that circumnavigates the outside of the tampon, to more evenly absorb menstrual fluid," Amanda Calabrese, Sequel's co-founder and chief marketing officer, tells Axios.
- The spiral indentations "make sure that the product is able to absorb more evenly in stages and to completion, without failing before it's full," she says.
- By contrast, conventional tampons "have longitudinal grooves that go from top to bottom, and those grooves allow the fluid to leak down one side."
Where it stands: Sequel has been granted 12 patents and has six pending.
- "We have utility patents, we have design patents, and we also have a patented proprietary manufacturing method for the product," Calabrese says.
Reality check: Most of the newer tampons on the market make claims that aren't about design: Organic cotton, flushable applicators and plant-based applicators made from sugarcane.
- There are even CBD-infused tampons, "Kelpons" made from seaweed and "smart" tampons with sensors (for the bravest of us).
Sequel's tampons are also plant-based — made from a biodegradable viscose fiber — with a BPA-free plastic applicator.
Backstory: Calabrese and her co-founder, Greta Meyer, are Stanford University engineers and elite athletes who hatched the product five years ago as part of Stanford's product design engineering group.
- They raised $5 million from wealthy investors and some venture capitalists, Calabrese says.
- They brought on engineers from Procter & Gamble (which makes Tampax) and Johnson & Johnson (which sold the o.b. tampon brand to Edgewell Personal Care, makers of Playtex).
- They spent four-and-a-half years in R&D and now have a six-person company in San Francisco — and they're hiring.
Zoom in: The sports angle is key for Sequel, which aims to capitalize on the popularity of the WNBA and this summer's Olympic Games.
- Calabrese is a six-time national champion in competitive lifesaving, and Meyer is an All-American lacrosse player.
- They were inspired by their sports uniforms: a swimsuit and white shorts.
- The first athlete to publicly endorse the Sequel Spiral Tampon is U.S. gymnast Katelyn Ohashi, a viral sensation and UCLA alum.
What they're saying: "We've had quite a few WNBA players really like the product," Calabrese says.
- "We've seen some strong word-of-mouth among our athlete friends," she adds. "We're going to be sending out a lot of free boxes of tampons to a lot of amazing athletes in the coming months."
- Currently, people in select states can order them online — $19.99 for a box of 32.
The bottom line: Sequel seems poised to capitalize on the great women's sports craze — as personified by Caitlin Clark and her fandom.
- "I think this year we're really seeing women's health and women's sports converge and really rise in popularity," Calabrese says.
- "Every girl wants to watch women's sports now."
