“Did you know that brands and manufacturers of menstrual products are still not required to list ingredients on their packaging? Women often have no idea that they are introducing all kinds of plastics, chemicals or perfumes into their bodies with these products,” Deniz begins. “Yoni is one of the first companies to do so on its own initiative. In this way, we help girls and women make a conscious and healthy choice in the products they use for their menstruation. You can find us on the shelves of regular supermarkets and drugstores.”
Working on transparency
Deniz explains that Yoni offers exclusively healthy and sustainable menstrual products. “Our portfolio now includes not only pads and tampons, but also reusable products such as menstrual underwear and cups. All products are sustainably produced from 100% organic cotton, without chemicals and plastics. This sets us apart in the industry and challenges other players to switch to sustainable ingredients – and to mention them. The healthier and more transparent the industry, the better.”
Social role
In addition to helping women, Deniz also sees a broader social role for Yoni. “We want to break the classic taboo on menstruation and vaginal health not only with our products, but also by making these topics more discussable. In our opinion, menstrual products are just as important as other hygiene products such as toilet paper and soap and should therefore also be available for free in public spaces - think of schools, offices and restaurants.”
More products and innovation
Deniz is not surprised that Yoni has built up a broad and strong brand awareness in the past ten years. “Our products are healthy for people and the environment – that story is rock solid. From this basis, we now want to expand within Europe to become the number one choice for sustainable menstrual products in more and more countries. But for healthy growth, everything also has to be right commercially. Our cash flow needs to increase further in order to be able to invest in our growth and further innovation. Even more sustainable and healthy products are important, but ultimately we want to offer a platform where women, scientists and experts can come together for menstrual solutions in a broader sense.”
Financing for education
External financing is crucial to reach even more people with Yoni's story, according to Deniz. "Thanks in part to the financing of ROM InWest, we have been developing more and more educational content about menstruation and vaginal health in recent years - in addition to products. Experts from our network visit companies or schools to give workshops. And we are placing dispensers in more and more places for free distribution of our products. Thanks to the short lines with ROM InWest, they are also always available as a sparring partner for our financial side, for example when it comes to our cash flow in challenging times."
Share experiences with other companies
Deniz is also very positive about the training courses that ROM InWest regularly gives to startups and scale-ups. “We have now had two of those training courses with Yoni. Apart from the educational content, it is very valuable that you come into contact with founders and CEOs of other companies. portfolio companies from ROM InWest. They are all in a similar phase with the same additional challenges, even if they are active in a completely different sector. This allows you to share plenty of tips and experiences and learn from each other's approach. We are still in contact with some companies.”
