“Anything you can do, I can do bleeding” is the empowering message smacked right above a photo of two young women with knowing smiles on the homepage of Oh Circle – the women in frame are co-founders Anna Schulze-Ardey and Judith Janning. And they’re on a mission to rid the world of waste from disposable feminine hygiene products and the stigma around menstruation, one reusable tampon at a time.  

“We developed a tampon that is washable and therefore reusable. That’s our elevator pitch. Everybody expects there to be a very technical answer to it, and there is science and design behind it, but on a fundamental level, we wanted to offer an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional disposable tampons,” says Anna.  

Mission 1

Despite the staggering numbers surrounding menstrual products and waste, reusable menstrual products are still a novelty. According to reports, 49 billion single-use menstrual products are discarded every year in Europe alone. The numbers are grim if we were to extrapolate this, given that globally, disposable sanitary pads are the most commonly used period products.  

While there are alternatives aimed at replacing single-use products, none of them truly mimic the functionality of traditional tampons, according to Anna. “That’s where we wanted to step in. Despite the existing alternatives, traditional tampons remain one of the most popular period products, which shows that many people aren’t convinced by the current reusable options. This motivated us to develop and design a tampon that’s just as functional as a traditional one but washable and reusable,” she said.  

“We prioritise toxin-free, eco-friendly, fairly produced materials for our tampons. After use, the tampons can be rinsed with cold water, dried, and washed together at the end of the period in a 90-degree laundry cycle,” said Anna. Their first prototype underwent several rounds of various microbiological testing at the Holstein Institute in Germany, which gave them the confidence in creating a safe and hygienic product.

Mission 2  

Besides responding to the needs of reducing waste and protecting the environment, tackling the stigma around menstruation has been at the core of the product right from the beginning. “As founders and menstruators ourselves, it is particularly important to us that Oh Circle stands for destigmatisation and acceptance in dealing with menstruation. We want our brand to contribute to societal education, promote openness, and foster female empowerment,” says Anna.  

Even at the prototype phase, she found that there weren’t standardised rules or guidelines to follow for testing feminine hygiene products, as you may have for others where a set number of tests gets you a certification. “There are no other companies in Germany making reuseable tampons, so nobody could tell us what we had to do in terms of testing and standardisation. We had to figure it out for ourselves. That there are still taboos surrounding the discussion of periods doesn’t help. So we’re hoping that our product helps foster these discussions, I mean we would love to continue to conduct more tests so we have the safest product available to our customers and the wider market,” said Anna.  

The not-so-linear path  

Oh Circle's journey began in 2022 when Anna was still in university. But the initial spark wasn’t actually triggered by the need for reuseable tampons; rather she was inspired by the many founders that she met while working for a startup herself in Cologne, Germany. “I was really impressed by the founders, how much energy they had and how it felt like everybody in the team was all in. I had a great time working there and that’s when I decided I want to start one myself,” she says. She spoke to friends, shared ideas on looking for a problem for which she could provide a solution that didn’t exist yet.  

One topic that came up quite often in her discussions was a menstrual hygiene product that is reusable. “But it always ended with either these panties don't feel good or that the cups are uncomfortable. That’s when I said we all love tampons, so why not a reusable tampon! Someone there said ‘oh my god, that’s the best idea ever’, and three years later, here we are,” she says with a smile.  

It has been anything but smooth sailing so far though, according to Anna. She was still studying when the project took off which meant managing her university schedule with testing for materials in the confines of her kitchen! “I really didn’t have much time at the beginning. But I ran into a bit of luck with the product development because I found nice materials to work with very quickly, which made the testing part easier. But it was wild, I mean I was working out of my kitchen!” she says amused.  

Even today she still thinks it’s all a bit crazy, despite the positive response so far and an international patent application currently being processed. “I'm done with my studies now and for sure it would be safer to get a nine-to-five job and have some money, especially with the patent, which is expensive and you don’t get your money back if it’s rejected. But on the other side, it's so much fun and I’m so passionate about it; it’s beyond money,” she says.  

And that’s what has kept her going despite the original founding team disbanding shortly after she started and losing two co-founders who quit after just six months of coming on board on both occasions. “It was tough. Personally, one of the hardest things for me to do then was find a good team and people that had the same energy and were willing to go that extra mile,” says Anna.  

As for new co-founder Judith, the story goes that Anna “slid into Judith’s DMs on LinkedIn”, one thing led to another and here there are, partners in business. “She’s fantastic. Together, we’ve been able to drive product development forward and expanded the patent internationally,” she says.  

In the near term, their focus is on getting the product ready for market and planning the launch. “We also want to do a pre-seed funding round and we're already in contact with some VCs and angel investors. But in the meantime, we’re lucky that operating in Germany is great in terms of the access to funding for startups and Cologne especially with its network and the incubators here,” says Anna. For now, Judith has a full-time job while Anna has a part-time gig, but at this early stage of their journey, this is a set up that works for both of them. Perhaps a period they’re both comfortable with right before take-off.  

Anna Schulze-Ardey and Judith Janning will be leading a roundtable discussion at BRIGHT 2025 on surviving the bootstrap phase of startups.

Sign up for BRIGHT and register your interest to take part in the discussion with one of Germany’s up-and-coming startups to watch: https://mycreativenetworks.com/topics/41873/page/bright

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