Bangalore, November 6th, 2017: Saathi Pads, the Indian startup who have introduced a revolutionary sanitary product for women, won the prestigious Global Startup Challenge 2017 by French Startup Accelerator Hello Tomorrow, a global platform that helps connecting deep-tech entrepreneurs, cutting-edge science and technology startups.
The company started their journey in Ahmedabad in 2015, looking to address two issues – the high cost of sanitary pads that make it inaccessible to rural women and the environmental challenges posed while disposing and recycling these sanitary napkins. Saathi Pads invented napkins that are made of banana fibres, making it cost-effective and decompose within 6 months.
Their first exposure came when they participated in Startups Club Demo Day 2016, competing against 10 selected startups from all over India, which became their stepping stone to the international challenge at Hello Tomorrow.
Saathi Pads won €15,000 in the wellbeing category sponsored by L’Oreal, €5,000 Impact prize and grand prize of €100,000 at the Hello Tomorrow Global Startup Challenge in Paris, France.
Hello Tomorrow, the French Startup Accelerator, is known to curate some of the leading, innovative companies across the world. The 2016 Global Startup Challenge winner was French Company, Lillium, a maker of flying cars. Lillium’s nomination by Hello Tomorrow provided it an instant boost, earning it a Series A funding by Safran Group and other investors.
Mr. Vivek Srinivasan, Co-Founder of Startups Club and representative of Hello Tomorrow is represented in India, said, “Technology has the capacity to change lives. Often the beneficiaries of technology tend to be those who are already well off. Saathi Pads is a unique project that is targeted towards rural Indians. Their persistence and hardwork has paid off.”
“Our product has been designed keeping the environment in mind. We are social enterprise and a manufacturing company that is looking to change the landscape of hygiene products for rural Indian women”, said, Kristin Kagetsu & Tarun Bothra Co-Founders at Saathi Pads
Having succeed at winning Hello Tomorrow the company will not only have the capital that comes as a cash prize from having won the event. It would also be able to attract eyeballs of various personal care companies from across the world which may act as a springboard towards an investment.
About Startups Club:
Startups Club is a community wherein startups could come together to discuss and engage with like- minded people. Startups Club wanted to foster a sense of a community, especially for early-stage startups who wanted mentors and guidance, or just a support system.
In 4 years, the Club expanded to 20 Indian cities – Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Delhi, Pune, Vizag, Goa, Vijaywada, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Vellore, Kolkata, Mysore, Mangalore, Indore, Kochi and Madurai. The Club, which has over 13,000+ members in India, organizes regular meets in the 20 cities, wherein entrepreneurs, investors and ideators can meet to discuss topics and issues relevant to startups and share their experiences. For more information, visit: http://startupsclub.org
