A new athlete-approved tampon is coming to market.
Sequel, founded by Stanford graduates and athletes Greta Meyer and Amanda Calabrese, launches direct-to-consumer Wednesday in California and New York with its The Sequel Spiral Tampon, $19.99 for a 32-pack.
Sequel founders Amanda Calabrese and Greta Meyer.
The engineering duo started working on the brand in 2018 during a 10-week college course. Meyer was a Division 1 recruited athlete on Stanford’s lacrosse team and Calabrese had been on the U.S. national team for lifesaving for almost 10 years. As athletes, Meyer, who is also the chief executive officer, and Calabrese had struggled to find effective tampons that didn’t leak.
“That was when we started our research,” said Calabrese, also the brand’s chief merchandising officer. “We kept hearing the same thing over and over again. The best way that we use to describe this is something we call the ‘red line effect…’ Our friends, teammates [and] interviewees were pulling out their tampons and saying, ‘There’s a red line on the side. The whole rest of the product is bare, and it’s leaking before it’s full.’”
With this, many were reporting they could only wear their tampon for an hour rather than the intended six-to-eight, ultimately making daily activities and sports difficult.
“That ‘red line effect’ translated for us into an engineering solution,” Calabrese said. “We recognized that the reason this was happening was because there are vertical channels or vertical imprints on the outside of every tampon on the market…The fluid was being funneled away from the absorbent core, and running down the side of the tampon.”
Sequel tampons.
Courtesy
Therefore, the duo created a new type of tampon that uses a helical groove. The Sequel Spiral Tampon was FDA-approved in August.
“The spiral was going to allow for a longer flow path, which can catch the escaped fluid and allow for the product to absorb more evenly in stages and to completion without failing before it’s full,” said Calabrese.
After the duo first presented their findings to their class, an investor in attendance was immediately interested, leading them to commit to developing the brand post-graduation. Since most tampons feature the same design and are manufactured on the same machine, the team had to create its patent portfolio and find a new way to develop its product.
“We found a partner who owns and operates our proprietary manufacturing and design,” said Meyer.
To date, the company has raised more than $5 million and is now heading to market, starting with New York and California.
The team is strategically choosing to start slow in order to create a loyal fan base. Sequel will continue to roll out in additional states throughout the year based on consumer demand. In addition, the company is partnering with athletics-focused businesses so that users can experience the tampons before purchasing. To start, Sequel will be available at barre workout studio Physique 57 in New York, and will roll out at additional New York and California locations.
“The whole point of the partnerships is that we’re able to create this mirrored experience where if you go in and you have a great experience with a Sequel product, and you want to be able to purchase that product online, we’re going to be available to you,” Calabrese said, adding they will only do partnerships in states where the product is available online. “The idea is to get the product into the hands of women that are in in the wild and in their critical moments.”
As the brand rolls out into additional states, it will also launch super-absorbency tampons and combination packs in the spring. While the team did not share specific sales projections, Calabrese said, “We are emphasizing intentional community-focused growth among our active and athlete audience members and expect to sell 50,000 boxes in 2024.”
