While cities like San Francisco, Boston and New York remain the heavyweights when it comes to startups and venture capital, they aren't the only places where you can build a high-growth firm.
Baltimore-based Femly is proof of that as the organic feminine hygiene product startup was among 40 companies across the country chosen for American Inno's inaugural Startups to Watch list.
Femly was started in 2016 by founder and CEO Arion Long and sells organic feminine hygiene products. According to Femly, 90% of feminine products in stores today have chemicals and other materials in them that have been linked with conditions such as heavy bleeding, endometriosis, infertility and even cancer. Long herself found this out when she was diagnosed with a cervical tumor at age 26, and quickly realized how difficult it was to get safe and organic options. She decided to take on the challenge herself.
Femly was accompanied on the American Inno list by a Portland, Oregon-based startup making organs for surgeons to practice surgery, an Atlanta startup helping creators earn money (with a boost from Snoop Dogg), a Sacramento robotics startup helping farmers pick fruit, an Albany startup making bacon out of mushrooms, a Seattle startup helping companies identify pay disparities backed by Stephen Curry and many more.
Femly initially sold its products through a monthly box subscription model and online. But that business model shifted in the last few years with the startup's creation of a contactless pad and tampon dispenser, an innovation spurred in part due to state laws mandating increased access to feminine hygiene products.
A video demonstrating the dispenser went viral on TikTok last year and gained about 27 million views across various social media platforms, Long told the Baltimore Business Journal in May. That exposure led to outreach from around 1,800 companies interested in partnering with the brand and led Femly to generate $1 million in revenue in 2021, more than its previous four years in existence combined.
Femly now has a partnership with the Ravens to put its products in M&T Bank Stadium and is on track to do $13 million in revenue this year. The startup also has several notable celebrity investors, including musician Pharrell Williams and Shellye Archambeau, the former CEO of MetricStream and a board member at Verizon. Last year, the company received $10,000 from BeyGood, a fund backed by Beyonce to support black-owned businesses.
Long has received several awards from the Baltimore Business Journal in the past, including as part of its Tech 10 in 2019 and she is an honoree in this year's 40 Under 40 class.
American Inno is a startup and innovation-focused brand from American City Business Journals, the parent company of the Baltimore Business Journal. There are Inno verticals in more than 40 markets across the U.S. — including Maryland Inno locally — covering the ins and outs of innovative upstarts in their markets, keeping tabs on funding rounds and covering new launches and other major moves from the business leaders of tomorrow.
For American Inno's inaugural national Startups to Watch list, Inno reporters across the U.S. were asked to identify companies you should know. There's no hard and fast definition of a "Startup to Watch." The list isn't about VC alone. Some companies have raised hundreds of millions in funding. Others are just getting started.
