STARTUP SPEAK
For Innovative, Market-oriented Startups, the World is a Playground Deep Bajaj, co-founder of Sirona, talks about the drivers of his company’s success – personal conviction, highly innovative products, purpose-driven marketing and the power of cross border e-commerce. HOW IT STARTED The aphorism, “Necessity is the mother of invention” stands true for Sirona. The inspiration for PeeBuddy came to me on a road trip in 2013, when I witnessed the struggle my wife and friends went through in search of clean toilets. They had to go for hours without drinking water to control the urge to pee, all the while dreading the moment when it would be impossible to hold pee any longer. Visiting a public toilet would entail uncomfortable squatting/bending, or in worst case scenario, they would have to be sitting on the dirty toilet seat. To put an end to this trauma, we devised PeeBuddy, India’s 1st Female Urination Device. With this funnel, women can stand and pee, thus avoiding contact with dirty toilet seats. Soon, we realised that PeeBuddy could also help women with arthritis and pregnant women as well, who have trouble bending. While it continues to help thousands of women every day, the journey of its launch has not been free of challenges. When we came up with PeeBuddy, we initially faced resistance from distributors and retailers, as was expected. They could not bring themselves to terms with the subject ‘stand and pee’ as a solution for women, and particularly the word ‘pee’ in the product name. However, endorsement from doctors and e-commerce websites ultimately encouraged people to try the product and its popularity in the market grew by leaps and bounds. So far, as a resullt of the exceptionally positive customer
menstrual hygiene. Being reusable for up to 10 years, the cups have proved to be an ecologically friendly and economically viable period solution. With more women adopting our products, we have a stronghold on the feminine hygiene market and an ever-increasing customer base. But we believe that to be innovative and relevant in the long run, we need to keep evolving our methods of communication and offerings in accordance with the changing customer needs. Deep Bajaj Co-founder of Sirona
response, Sirona has sold over 30,00,000 PeeBuddy units. HOW IT’S GROWING Since then, Sirona has been on a mission to offer a range of innovative problem-solving products for women for each life stage from puberty to menopause. We have diversified our business over a range of other products that include Menstrual Cups, Menstrual Cup Sterilizer, Tampons, Panty Liners, Intimate Wash, PeeBuddy funnel, PregRx pregnancy test strips, Period Pain Relief Patches, Period Stain Remover, Tampons and Condom Disposal Bags, Sanitary Waste Disposal Bags, Lubricants, and so on. Our innovative products are making a difference in the lives of our customers in India as well as globally. We have sold over 10 lakh Sirona Menstrual Cups, thereby ensuring better and hassle-free
20 | India Business & Trade • Apr-May, 2022
INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH AND E-COMMERCE We have become a trustworthy brand in the country since we offer top quality products, which are easy to use and economical. But ensuring success on a global scale entails more than this. Usually, it requires huge investments and brands have to go through a long gestation period. Thankfully, technology is changing the rules of the game in the favour of startups today.
TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING THE RULES OF THE GAME IN THE FAVOUR OF STARTUPS TODAY. CROSS BORDER E-COMMERCE AND ONLINE RETAIL HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO GROWTH OF BRANDS LIKE SIRONA
