09.17.19
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Kimberly-Clark is investing $25 million in Thinx, a maker of reusable period underwear.
The investment is expected to get the online brand into more mainstream retailers like Target and Walmart, and will also enable the startup to launch a lower-cost line of period underwear, with prices between $15-$19 per pair, versus current prices that are between $32-$39, the report says.
Thinx CEO Maria Molland told the Wall Street Journal that getting the brand into big retailers will ensure consumers know it exists, which she said has been a major hurdle.
In an email to customers, Molland said that since Thinx's founding in 2014, it had raised less than $2 million in total. "We came up against the period taboo, strong incumbents, and the daunting task of convincing people with periods to change behavior that has been passed down for generations," she added.
In the past two years, Thinx's sales have nearly doubled to $50 million.
In 2015, Thinx launched incontinence underwear Icon, now called Speax, and earlier this month, the company launched the more absorbent Thinx Super, which can serve as a complete replacement to tampons and pads.
Thinx currently has over 60 boutique and retail partners globally including Nordstrom in the U.S., David Jones in Australia and Galleries Lafayette in France.
The investment is expected to get the online brand into more mainstream retailers like Target and Walmart, and will also enable the startup to launch a lower-cost line of period underwear, with prices between $15-$19 per pair, versus current prices that are between $32-$39, the report says.
Thinx CEO Maria Molland told the Wall Street Journal that getting the brand into big retailers will ensure consumers know it exists, which she said has been a major hurdle.
In an email to customers, Molland said that since Thinx's founding in 2014, it had raised less than $2 million in total. "We came up against the period taboo, strong incumbents, and the daunting task of convincing people with periods to change behavior that has been passed down for generations," she added.
In the past two years, Thinx's sales have nearly doubled to $50 million.
In 2015, Thinx launched incontinence underwear Icon, now called Speax, and earlier this month, the company launched the more absorbent Thinx Super, which can serve as a complete replacement to tampons and pads.
Thinx currently has over 60 boutique and retail partners globally including Nordstrom in the U.S., David Jones in Australia and Galleries Lafayette in France.
