Menstrual Hygiene Issues For Women Are Still Considered A Taboo In The Country: Deep Bajaj, Sirona

On the occasion of the World Environment Day, BW Disrupt conducted a little chat with the award-winning product innovation brand, Sirona, which is committed to solving those intimate and menstrual hygiene issues for women, which are still considered a taboo in the country. While menstruation is a sign of healthy biological development of a woman, they also come with a heavy cost to the environment. The pads that women normally use are made of non-biodegradable material and hence cannot be recycled. Every month millions of women across the globe are using and disposing off sanitary napkins which when thrown casually is leading to serious environmental issues. So, Sirona aims to deal with products that are safe for women as well as are disposable, bio-degradable and are of no harm to the environment. 

Founded in 2014 with India’s first urinating device for women (PeeBuddy), Sirona has since then covered a long road when it comes to personal and menstrual hygiene in India. 

Brief us about your business model like how did the idea come to start and how does it work (step by step procedure)?

We are all about identifying the largely unaddressed, yet critical intimate and menstrual hygiene problems faced by women. We have devised solutions for such problems, which have opened countless opportunities for people in general and women in particular. 

On the inspiration behind our products - Initially, it was about Deep (Founder) facing these issues with his family, and later it became a customer feedback-linked innovation. 

It all started with our first unique product – PeeBuddy, (India’s 1st Female Urination device using which could stand and pee in unfriendly toilets), Idea for which was born on a road trip in 2013 due to Deep and his wife’s encounters with dirty toilets – though Deep had observed this issue during this day at events management too (portable toilets can never be kept clean). Likewise, for our SIRONA Feminine Pain Relief Patches, Deep’s wife used to get terrible cramps on 1st day of her periods, hot water bottles and pain killers had their own challenges. It was then that Deep started working on a solution which can help women sleep and work better – India’s First Herbal Period Pain Patch was created. Disposal of sanitary pads/tampons/diapers on the go was a big challenge and hence Sirona introduced India’s first oxo-degradable disposal bags for clean and hygienic disposal of sanitary products.

Post this, customers started sharing their concerns and company started offering solutions right from lack of sustainable and alternate menstrual flow products – for which Sirona Introduced Sirona Menstrual Cups, Sirona with and without applicator tampons, Natural Intimate Wash and in terms of leading from the front – Sirona Natural Anti Chafing Cream (India’s First Anti Chafing Cream for women with no chemical actives) etc. Last year we introduced India’s First Colored Biodegradable pads. 

What are the unique key points of your company?

We listen to our customers and bring out products which solve a pressing need. At Sirona, ‘customer need’ takes precedence over ‘business scale, opportunity size’. If our customers need a solution, we go after the problem and come up with a unique and relevant solution.

At the development stage, we try our best to ensure the product is good for her (ingredients), for the society and environment. 

Another thing that sets us apart is our commitment to even those customers who can’t buy our products but need them. Our pay-it-forward programs for the under-privileged are funded by our product sale. 

How are you different from the existing competitors?

We believe in using innovation that is sustainable and efficient in solving intimate and menstrual hygiene problems. With this approach, we have launched many of India’s 1st solutions like PeeBuddy Female Urination Device, Sirona Herbal Pain relief patch (Again India’s 1st), Sirona Herbal Anti-chafing Rash cream for women (first ones to launch), Sirona cup, Sironabiodegradable coloured pads (India’s First Coloured Biodegradable pads) etc.

We are breaking the barriers of unfriendly toilets, travel issues and menstrual problems that were restricting women in so many ways. With Sirona by their side, they can pursue their professional and personal dreams unbridled!

What is the funding status and monetization model?

We are building the company on customer revenues. While we have raised two angel rounds, the focus is to build a non-funding dependent business and to ensure we walk the talk, we pay a lot of attention on unit economics. Due to this philosophy – introduced by Mohit (co-founder), we have been PAT positive for the past 2 years while growing in a healthy manner. We are now in touch with leading investors for another round of funding. 

What challenges are you facing in running your business?

Before the pandemic, the market demand had already been ebbing across industries, which inevitably affected sales. But with the lockdown in full effect, the entire supply chain got disrupted and business operations almost halted. We were no exception to this, in spite of falling in the category of Essential Goods and Services. Yet as the economic activities have started rolling again, the market is rekindling and we are gaining stability in our operations.

On a macro level, the sector in which we operate isn’t discussed openly. Menstrual Hygiene/Intimate Hygiene/Feminine Hygiene issues are taboo topics. We are trying to change this by making these issues mainstream.

How has been the people’s response so far?

Since Sirona is a problem-solving brand, people have welcomed all its products, particularly PeeBuddy, Sirona Period Pain Relief Patches and Sirona Menstrual Cups with open arms. 

We have a good reach in tier 1 cities, and are now are looking at spreading to tier 2 and tier 3 cities followed by rural areas. In the villages of Rajasthan and West Bengal, under our social initiatives, we have already helped women switch to Sirona menstrual cup. Thanks to their enthusiasm to learn and willingness to adopt better alternatives, we have distributed over 5000 cups and are still counting.

On the consumer front, over 2,00,000 women have opted for Sirona cups, which is not only a healthier and hygienic and hassle-free option for them but also good for the environment.

In general, we have thousands of customer testimonials thanking us for introducing these products, which have made everyday challenges easier for millions of women. 

What are the traction details (like users, app downloads and other achievements of the company)?

We have sold over 2 million units of PeeBuddy.

Over 200,000 women today use SIRONA menstrual Cups.

Over 100,000 units of Sirona’s Herbal period Pain patches have been sold.

Best of doctors recommend using PeeBuddy for pregnancy and arthritis and even cancer.

We have two patents (one design and one full patent)

The team has won many prestigious awards, including National Entrepreneurship Award (MSDE, GoI), ET Startup of the year (Social), TiE Spirit of manufacturing award, ET Innovation Award (Inclusion) 

Founders were on Fortune 40 under 40, Economic Times 40under 40 list last year 

How do you look at expansion?

After getting a good foothold in metros, we are looking at taking our solutions to tier 2 tier 3 cities, as there are a lot of takers there, whose needs remain unmet due to lack of both social and physical infrastructure. 

What are your marketing plans?

We would continue to build the brand digitally and enter offline in a controlled fashion. Focussing on being an online-first brand, we want to ensure women across India have access to our products. In line with our approach, we are looking at investing in more innovations, which would solve our customers’ issues. 

What has been the biggest learning so far?

With our understanding of the transience of the market, we always keep some scope for change to adjust to it as and when required. This helps us stay prepared to deal with numerous issues as they usually arise.

However, the current situation was highly unpredictable and it has radically transformed our way of operation. To remain afloat amidst the pandemic and resulting lockdown, we had to adapt to it by becoming more flexible at work. Earlier, we had never considered work from home as a viable option. 

But with the lockdown, we had to do otherwise. In this struggle, we learned to become highly efficient at working remotely, keeping regular contact across departments via weekly planning on video conferences. In fact, with negligible time and energy wasted in commute, the team members are pumped up to perform better. The team is working tirelessly to help the company grow even in adversity.

We have learned that things that might seem abnormal at a given point of time might become your strength in future. We have become more open and fearless to take the road less travelled.

What is the market size and opportunity?

Feminine intimate and menstrual hygiene market in India has been growing at a CAGR of 14.92% during the 2019-2024 period. It is expected to reach Rs 58.62 billion by 2024. 

There is a possibility for more growth as a large portion of the market in India, still remains untapped. Of the 365 million menstruating women in India, 82% living in semi-rural and rural India don’t have access to hygienic menstrual products like newspaper, rags, ash, dried leaves etc. But this is slowly changing with social and awareness programs like those undertaken by Sirona, internet reach, increasing education percolation, campaigns by the government etc. Empowering rural women both financially and socially is an important investment as it will not only lead to a more equitable society but also a stronger market and economy.