After more than four decades of first-hand experience with “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of menstruation, Hilla Shaviv, a serial femtech entrepreneur and biomedical engineer, realized that women deserved better.
Since the focus of her studies and her first professional experience was in the field of blood fluid dynamics in the cardiovascular system, this is what led Hilla to the idea for Tulipon in 2012. A novel period product that combines the best of both worlds: the familiar tampon with its ease of use and cleanliness, and the menstrual cup with its ability to hold more fluid and its eco-friendliness.
To make Tulipon a reality, Hilla founded Gals Bio in 2016 and began research and development. Surprisingly, she found a gap in the market. No patents, no innovation, just an empty space (pun intended): menstruators had been using the same products for decades, and they just weren’t good enough. She also discovered it was very difficult to find researchers focused on menstruation, as research was only done at the cellular level, and the period product market and research field, often led by men, was stagnant.
Image by PatriciaMoraleda from Pixabay
During her research, Hilla came across the menstrual cup, a device dating back to the late 1800s. She thought it was an ingenious invention and wondered why it wasn’t more popular. A single menstrual cup lasts five to seven years and is reusable, but big companies had no interest in marketing or manufacturing it. They also assumed that women wouldn’t want to deal with the bloody mess that would come with using one.
Hilla also learned more about TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome), a rare but life-threatening condition caused by bacteria entering the body and releasing harmful toxins, often associated with tampon use in young women. Hearing the many stories of women who had died from TSS, and thinking about the women who would die in vain because of the need to simply use a tampon, fueled Hilla’s passion to make an impact on women’s health and create a better product for the future of all women.
“Tulipon was born out of the recognition of the neglect that women’s health has suffered over the years, and it became not only a business, but my life’s purpose” ~Hilla Shaviv.
The Tulipon is not only a new hygiene device to manage monthly periods for half the population, it is also a platform that will serve multiple applications for women’s health and wellness, essentially creating a new branch in women’s health.
To learn more about the Tulipon check the FAQs on our website.
Tulipon will soon be available for early access via a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.
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