Startup known for period kits moves to NW Arkansas

FemPAQ, a startup that makes emergency kits with menstruation products, and its owner are looking to grow, so they moved up to NWA from Little Rock.

Why it matters: FemPAQ’s kits are to surprise periods what first aid kits are to surprise injuries.

Its founder and CEO, April Roy, tells Axios she moved the business to Bentonville earlier this year and moved here with her family this month.

• She sees NWA as more startup-friendly and has received support from entrepreneurial groups in growing the business past the initial launch.

Details: Each kit includes a tampon, a pad, a panty, a pantyliner, ibuprofen, chocolate and a wipe. They cost $7.99 each or $6.25 each with the purchase of 100 or more.

• The kits are intended to make surprise periods as seamless as possible. “We want you to continue your day without a hitch,” Roy says.

What's happening: FemPAQ has a space at 125 W. Central Ave. in Bentonville. For now, Roy is mostly focused on selling in bulk to businesses or other organizations, especially the travel industry. (Think hotels, airlines, casinos.)

• Local hotels including the DoubleTree by Hilton, the Texarkana school district and charities that plan to donate the kits, have all picked up the products, Roy says.

Background: Roy started FemPAQ in 2018. It was one of the winners during the Center for Advancing Innovation’s 2019 SCALE Challenge, winning a $2,500 grant from the Walton Family Foundation. And the startup won $15,000 this summer in a pitch competition.

• She says men in business whom she’s pitched the product to sometimes don’t realize or don’t understand why they should buy period products for their employees.
• To that, she’s asked if they keep toilet paper on them at all times and if having to go home to clean up would affect their workday and productivity.

What's next: Roy's goal is for FemPAQ to eventually be widely available in stores such as Walgreens and CVS and in any space where people who may need them are present, which is nearly everywhere.