Menstrual hygiene is still a taboo topic in everyday conversation. Complicating matters is the recent awareness that the industry needs to move to more eco-friendly products.

Enter DEA Corp, which in 2016 began offering menstrual cups made of medical grade silicone.

Based in Vapi in Gujarat, the team has so far focused on marketing the product in their hometown. “Our efforts have been directed towards building awareness and following it up with direct selling,” founder Smita Amol Mane says. “We use WhatsApp to reach customers and prospective customers.”

"We get a lot of in-bound business queries on WhatsApp, because it has become the most accessible platform in India"

Talking about why WhatsApp has been important for a business where awareness around product usage is low, she says, “We realized there are predominantly two kinds of customers: those who do not know what the cup is, and others who haven’t made the switch because of unanswered questions. So, WhatsApp has become the platform to answer those questions. We share videos, images, and even do video calls to help customers. Also, we get a lot of in-bound business queries on WhatsApp, because it has become the most accessible platform in India.”

The team has sold about 1,000 menstrual cups so far and is looking to expand across India — and beyond.

“We have just started to export to Africa and we are getting some good traction on that front,” says Smita.

Smita is aware that helping women make the transition to the cup isn’t easy but knows how important it is.

“We have seen how liberating and hassle-free periods can be with menstrual cups. It makes us believe that we can empower many others.”