Editor's note: In our 2023 Startups to Watch feature, the Silicon Valley Business Journal and San Francisco Business Times present startups and founders doing unique things in the Bay Area. Sequel is one of 15 we profiled this year — to read more about our mission and the other startups we're featuring, click here.
For people who menstruate, tampons provide an imperfect combination of convenience and unpredictability. Despite their propensity to leak, tampons remain one of the most popular menstrual products.
Globally, the market for so-called feminine hygiene products is expected to grow more than 6% annually to reach more than $68 billion by 2030, according to Allied Market Research. While reusable options like menstrual cups are gaining popularity, tampons remain the preferred option for lots of people.
And yet, the perfect tampon doesn't exist.
The Wirecutter, a review site owned by the New York Times, tested "hundreds" of tampons and came to the conclusion that "many of these cotton wads are identical or nearly so" except for small differences between applicators or wrappers.
Sequel is trying to make the actual tampon better by redesigning it through an engineering lens — particularly, fluid mechanics.
- Founded: 2018
- Founders: Greta Meyer, CEO; Amanda Calabrese, COO
- What it does: Redesigning tampons to make them leakproof
- HQ: San Francisco
- Employees: 3
- Total funding: $5 million
Who are your customers? Pending FDA clearance, we are hoping to launch to women across the U.S. in early 2023.
What was your “aha” moment? As athletes, we struggled with leaking tampons and the resulting distraction. As engineers, we realized that we could create a tampon that wouldn't leak before it was full with simple fluid mechanics.
Has your vision changed since you launched the company? We started laser focused on reengineering the tampon, but our vision for Sequel has dramatically expanded to include engineering solutions for many needs that we have learned about from our users along the way.
How do you plan to weather the current economic uncertainty? At launch, we plan to focus on sampling because we are confident in the noticeable benefits the Sequel tampons provide our customers. This will help us get our product out more organically and build the strong business fundamentals and customer love that will be irrefutable when we go out to raise out next round.
How do you plan to scale your business? Though our product is not just for athletic women, we see them as key customers. We will use partnerships with sports teams and organizations to scale our business and drive customers to our direct-to-consumer subscription.
