Amanda Miah said Besti Co. was created with women in mind, certainly, but the startup has seen its share of male customers as well — as husbands, boyfriends, etc., who do not wish to go to “tampon aisle purgatory” (in the words of Miah).
Miah co-founded the Louisville-based company in April 2023 around the concept of creating a “Besti box,” which contains a variety of items to help soothe and comfort women during their periods (in addition to a 10-pack of organic night pads) that is shipped directly to them.
“Really what Besti strives to do is be a best friend to women for their time in the month,” Miah said. “And so we want to provide a service that helps reduce the mental load for women that provides a really convenient way for them to get the products that they need, so that they don’t have to deal with the issue of starting their period [and] it catching them off guard.”
Currently, the company sells two period kits, including its popular “PMS Support Kit” for $40 through its website. The kits are available on a monthly subscription basis, ranging from $25 to $30.
It also sells five menstrual products as individual units ranging from $6 to $9 — as well as “PMS Relief” products, which are hemp-based gummies and a cramp relief roll-on applicator, both for $15.
The company launched in August 2023, following a three-month pilot process. Since then, the company has had roughly 150 orders during its soft launch phase.
In the next few weeks, though, Miah said that the company is hoping to significantly scale its operations and distribution — to the tune of a projected increase of more than 1000% in overall growth when the hard launch begins next quarter. A large reason for those projections is that the company recently did a launch on Amazon. It also has reached a partnership with the Gopuff delivery service.
In addition, Miah said the company, which was named one of our 2024 Startups to Watch, hopes to have its products available at retail stores later in the year — with a goal of hitting big box stores by 2025. Miah also has her eyes set on international markets.
“We’re just trying to expand in the U.S.,” she said. “We’re not ready to go and export yet. But eventually, we could get there.”
Miah, a Louisville native, is a first-time company founder. Before starting up Besti Co., though, she did work for more than four years at Tearfund USA, a non-profit international relief and development organization. While serving as the organization’s chief of staff, she helped incubate a women’s professional network.
“I am very passionate about doing something that is going to develop either your community or people group in some way or another,” she said. “With Tearfund … it was international development, so working with people who were in extreme poverty. Here it’s more along the line of community development.”
Per its business model, the company wanted to partner with a nonprofit for its packing needs, so in July 2023 an arrangement was reached with West Louisville-based Workwell Industries, an organization that provides employment opportunities for people with disabilities or other workforce barriers. Workwell has a facility in the Portland neighborhood where the boxes are packed.
Since its founding, Besti Co. has raised $175,000, which included $100,000 from being named one of the winners of the 2023 Render Competition. The company has also received $50,000 from Keyhorse Capital. It is currently in the middle of a $250,000 raise.
Among the plans with fresh capital is to hire another member of the leadership team in a c-suite role as well as building out customer acquisition practices and rounding out inventory — including adding inventory, aside from the period products, that is exclusively made for the company.
