‘Conviction and passion for this space’

An all-women, angel investment fund in Winnipeg is opening new doors for a Toronto-based company that produces organic, toxin-free tampons and pads.

WEL Manitoba recently voted to fund Marlow, a health startup that aims to revolutionize period care with the first-ever lubricated tampon designed for smoother and more comfortable insertion.

The fund’s investors were so impressed with Marlow they started linking the company with employers and retailers in the keystone province even before investing in the company, said Katie Hall Hursh, managing partner.

Those connections are being made in the lead-up to Sept. 1 — the day when all provincially regulated companies must provide free menstrual products to their employees.

Hall Hursh met Marlow co-founder Nadia Ladak at the beginning of May, after hearing her give a pitch at a conference in Ottawa.

“(I) was absolutely just struck by her conviction and passion for this space,” Hall Hursh said. “I wanted to understand what, if any, role we could play in Manitoba to help support the growth of Marlow.”

That led WEL Manitoba to invite Ladak to Winnipeg last month. She pitched her company to the investment fund and met with a number of employers and retailers.

Marlow has closed deals with four workplaces based on the introductions, as well as Red River Co-op, which is now carrying Marlow products, Ladak said.

The six-year-old company sells its tampons and pads direct to consumers and via more than 200 retailers, she said, adding Manitoba’s menstrual products mandate — the first of its kind in the country — presents an opportunity for Marlow.

“We’re kind of expanding into a new channel, which is corporate office spaces and being able to service those types of clients and allow them to create more inclusive workspaces,” Ladak said.

The global feminine hygiene product market was valued at US$30.7 billion last year and is expected to reach US$58.2 billion by 2035, according to SNS Insider.

The market research agency attributes the expected growth to rising awareness regarding menstrual health and improved access to hygiene products.

“The period care space, in my view, has been entirely underserved for a long time now (and) really lacking in innovation,” Hall Hursh said.

“What stood out to me was the way in which Marlow is approaching brand positioning and the product positioning as being one that supports women when they’re on their periods. Rather than it being a burden that they just simply have to endure, (it can be) something that is very much a supported event.”

Hall Hursh appreciates the way Marlow is reaching women who have grown up believing menstruation is a taboo subject. “I really admired their drive to bring the topic of period care right into the mainstream.”

Sara Fournier, vice-president of food and pharmacy operations at Red River Co-op (which operates more than 40 stores in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario), echoed those sentiments. She was part of a group of Co-op executives that met with Ladak last month.

“What stood out to us was not only the quality of the product, but the purpose behind the brand,” Fournier said in an email.

“Marlow combines innovation in period care with a strong commitment to sustainability, social responsibility and women’s health advocacy. Those values, along with the product’s fit for our customers’ evolving wellness needs, made it a natural addition to Red River Co-op.”

Ladak, Kiara Botha and Harit Sohal created Marlow in 2020 as the capstone project in a class at Ivey Business School at Western University in London, Ont.

Their professor told them to identify a problem they felt passionate about solving. When Ladak, Botha and Sohal were brainstorming, they started talking about their periods and how uncomfortable they are, Ladak said.

“In a world where there’s so much innovation — AI is moving at crazy paces — why is it that our periods and menstrual care haven’t changed in the last 90 years?” she said.

Eventually, the three classmates hit on the idea of a lubricated tampon and set about making a prototype. One of their mentors encouraged them to pursue it further after the class ended.

The trio graduated that spring and planned to spend the summer travelling throughout Southeast Asia. When the COVID-19 pandemic derailed their trip, they spent the summer working on Marlow instead.

After working in the corporate world for a while and developing Marlow on the side, Ladak, Botha and Sohal quit their jobs in 2022 to pursue the startup full-time.

Today, Marlow has four full-time employees (including the three founders) and four contractors. The company has raised $4.5 million over three funding rounds.

Marlow plans to create additional products that address every PMS symptom so consumers are supported throughout their entire periods, Ladak said.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca