Now, stand and pee with this female hygiene product

Women do you feel helpless when your male counterparts can easily urinate on a road trip? Or do you reduce your liquid intake to avoid using filthy public toilets? PeeBuddy, a disposable tunnel-shaped paper urination device, comes to the rescue. 

Delhi-based First Step Digital has an entire range of women’s hygiene products, including PeeBuddy. The start-up secured Rs 2.96 crore in Pre-Series A Funding from Indian Angel Network. 

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” said founder Deep Bajaj, who conceived the idea on a tour with friends. The other co-founders are Mohit Bajaj and Deepak Thareja.

Based on the basic model of a funnel, the cardboard device fits between the legs to enable women to stand and urinate. These inconveniences get exacerbated during periods, medical emergencies or weather conditions. With a motive to solve such hygiene issues, the company also sells disposable bags, intimate wet wipes, underarm sweat pads, herbal pain release pads and applicator tampons. 

These are especially handy for pregnant women and those who have arthritis, urinary tract infection (UTI) or any other contagion. 

Having sold about 100,000 packs in 2016 compared to 20,000 in 2015, PeeBuddy is expanding through stores, e-commerce websites, events, marathons and some exports. It is priced Rs 30 per unit but costs less when bought in packs. The entire batch of products is now available at 400-odd stores and on all major online sites. 

 Being India’s first such innovation, it only faces competition from global peers.

According to a report conducted in 2015 by WaterAid, around 60 per cent of Indians didn’t have access to toilets. With about 90 million in women in urban areas and more than 210 million in rural areas, the 14-member team believes the market for personal care is huge. The global feminine hygiene market was valued at $19 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $35.2 billion by the end of 2024.