In August 2019, Bengaluru-based Kiriti Acharjee quit his job at Cloudtail, a joint venture between Amazon and Catamaran Ventures, to start a project of his own. Having working women at home—a multi-tasking homemaker mother, and a younger sister who teaches at a government school—made Acharjee want to find a solution that would make the lives of these women simpler. And so, he founded Healthfab with the purpose of providing a comfortable and hassle-free environment for menstruating women.

“[It] prompted me to make a reusable period panty,” says Acharjee. “The product was a direct solution to the problem at home—the women in my family found it difficult to go to work during their periods, for want of a place to change and a method to dispose of the old pads. But I soon felt that it was not a problem restricted to my household. So, I decided to test this product in my inner circle, among friends and family members, who fell in this demographic.”