Sequel, US-based start-up engineering and designing leakage-preventing tampons for women, has raised $5 million in seed funding. Founded by two high-level athletes and Stanford engineers, Sequel’s mission is to raise the standard of women’s products with better design. The funding will fuel Sequel as the company brings its first novel product to market.

Sequel has re-engineered tampons for distraction-free periods. The company’s proprietary spiral design is more fluid mechanically efficient, meaning it absorbs fluid more evenly and will not leak before it is full. With two granted patents and three patents pending, Sequel was invented for peak performance—from the boardroom to the stadium and everything in between, the company said in a press release.

Sequel was founded in 2018 by Meyer and Calabrese, who were both Stanford product design engineering students and elite athletes. Meyer played Division 1 lacrosse at Stanford and was an Under Armor All-American athlete, while Calabrese was a member of the USA Lifesaving Team and 9X National Champion. Throughout their athletic careers, the founders struggled with period care during high-level athletic competitions, and they knew they were not alone. The duo looked critically at period products and realised that all the options on the shelves were uncomfortable, leaked, and were essentially the same, even when they were marketed as different.

The Sequel team spent a year in research and development to invent its new-and-improved tampon. They tested the product on the bench and with early beta testers, and built out an all-new manufacturing method. They are preparing to submit for FDA clearance in the new year and take the product to market in 2022. Sequel is also working with star gymnast, artist and activist, Katelyn Ohashi as a creative advisor.

“We are driven by a vision where a better tampon is just the beginning of a movement to raise the standard of women’s products. We are building the products we wish we had on game day, elevating the standards for products long left behind. With so many things to worry about, a leaking tampon shouldn't be one of them,” co-founders Greta Meyer, CEO, and Amanda Calabrese, COO said.

“In a space saturated by private label brands that haven’t innovated in years, Sequel is committed to building an IP portfolio that is unprecedented. Their design and manufacturing innovations are really exciting, and I believe they will grow Sequel into a game-changing, market-shifting company,” Adrian Fenty, founding managing partner at MaC VC said.