From stock trading apps to co-living spaces and shipping companies the most exciting part about 33founders is featuring a wide variety of startups. One category I never thought I’d feature is feminine care. I was even less confident that I’d fall in love with the brand, sign up to receive tampon news in my inbox, and post about it on social media.
Get to know Lola founders Alex Friedman and Jordana Kier and you’ll immediately understand why.
Between sending friends tamponatas (Yes – This is a real thing) and writing “This too shall pass” on in the inside of each tampon box, the founders are removing the stigma of talking about feminine care.
In a world where most of us avoid gluten like the plague, Lola challenges us to think twice about the feminine care products we choose for ourselves and our loved ones.
The initial idea for Lola was to create a delivery service for tampons. However, as Alex and Jordana began their product search, they quickly learned that there’s little citation of the ingredients in feminine care products. Even after lab testing, they were left with no answers.
Despite being a $15 billion industry, and creating products that women use for a quarter of each year, the FDA doesn’t require feminine care companies to list all of the ingredients in their products. The result is higher ratios of artificial fibers like rayon and polyester, rather than solely being made of cotton.
Lola combats the uncertainty by using only two ingredients: 100% hypoallergenic cotton and BPA free plastic. The tampon is 100% biodegradable and has no chemicals, synthetics, or dyes.
Lola is a product that brings
peace of mind. You should feel
secure and confident in the
product that you are using.
Less than 1% of women purchased feminine care products outside of the four major brands, and their store-brand counterparts, in 2014.
As Jordana shared, we’re often given feminine care products by individuals we trust like our parents and friends; Making it highly unlikely that we’ll change our habits in the future.
In an attempt to bring transparency to the industry, Lola is built for the “modern woman who demands a lot from the companies she purchases products from.”
With that in mind, women can customize a box of 18 tampons to be delivered every month.
Single boxes are $10, and you can customize two boxes for $18. Free shipping and no cancelation fees. Tampon Prime in the making!
While transparency is critical to the brand’s ethos, I’m most excited about the fun and light-hearted conversation Lola is starting about feminine care.
“Women do want to talk about this. They just haven’t been asked,” Alex shared.
We wanted to make sure that the brand represented multidimensional women.
One of the simplest ways they’re achieving that is through design.
The team’s mission is to give Lola a clean, elevated feel; Not any different than the other products you keep in your bathroom.
“Just because it’s a tampon doesn’t mean it has to be ugly,” Jordana asserted.
Customers are excited and proudly displaying Lola boxes in their bathrooms and inside their desks.
Investors are equally eager about the movement. BoxGroup, Vayner/RSE, 14W, Thrive Capital, as well as Bonobos Founder Andy Dunn participated in Lola’s $1.2 million seed round.
The future is extremely bright for Lola; At the rate they’re going, I’m confident we’ll be gifting tampon subscriptions for the holidays.
To learn more about the Lola movement and get your daily dose of laughter, tune into Alex and Jordana’s 33founders interview and follow Lola on Twitter and Instagram.
The team is developing an ambassador program and seeking volunteers who are interested in helping with their next round of product development (Translation: Free tampons!). If you or a friend would like to get involved, you can reach out to their team at help@mylola.com.
You can also customize your first two-box monthly order for $9 here.