(Image Source: Fabpad)
Fabpad, a menstrual hygiene startup based in Kolkata, just closed a seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures. While the exact amount hasn’t been made public, the capital is earmarked for expansion across different sales channels and deeper penetration into India’s tier-2 and tier-3 cities. According to company statements, this funding will help Fabpad scale operations and compete more aggressively in the sustainable period care space.
How Fabpad Plans to Deploy Seed Funding for Menstrual Products
The company has mapped out spending across several fronts. Distribution expansion tops the list. Fabpad wants to reach consumers through D2C channels, major online marketplaces, quick-commerce apps like Blinkit, and traditional retail. Marketing spend will increase to drive brand recognition. The startup is also actively hiring for product, engineering, growth, and operations teams. A new office in Hyderabad forms part of the expansion plan, partly to tap the city’s talent pool and strengthen recruitment efforts.
Working capital will fuel the order book across three business segments: direct consumer sales, institutional contracts with schools and NGOs, and private-label manufacturing for other brands. This spread reduces the risk of betting everything on one sales channel.
What Fabpad Actually Makes: The Product Lineup
Reusable Pads, Disposable Napkins, and Period Panties
Fabpad manufactures menstrual products tailored to Indian women’s preferences and budgets. The company sells both reusable cloth pads and single-use organic cotton sanitary napkins. On the reusable side, you’ll find cloth pads, cloth pantyliners, period panties, and menstrual cups. The disposable range focuses on organic cotton sanitary napkins. The company tries to balance environmental concerns with the convenience factor that many women want.
Revenue comes from three different buckets:
- Direct consumer sales through their website, Amazon, Flipkart, and quick-commerce apps
- Institutional orders from NGOs, government schools, state health departments, and corporate CSR programs
- Manufacturing menstrual products under private labels for brands wanting sustainable options
India’s Menstrual Hygiene Market Is Growing: Here’s Why
India’s menstrual care market sits at over USD 1 billion right now. As more women in smaller towns gain access and awareness spreads, that number keeps climbing. Globally, analysts expect the menstrual hygiene market to touch USD 24 billion by 2030. Within that total, reusable and eco-friendly options are growing faster than traditional disposable pads.
Minal Shah, who leads investments at Inflection Point Ventures, flagged something important: access to menstrual products remains a real problem in India. Plenty of women still don’t know their options, can’t afford quality products, and live in areas where decent menstrual care products simply aren’t available. Fabpad’s model involves lean operations and presence across urban and rural India, which puts it in a position to plug that gap.
Fabpad Isn’t Just About Making Money
The company has built social work into its business model. For every 25 pads Fabpad sells, it donates one pad to girls from low-income families. The company says it’s reached more than 38,000 girls through donation programs and menstrual health awareness camps.
There’s also the Padma initiative. Fabpad employs women from economically weaker communities to manufacture, package, and distribute menstrual products while they’re out spreading information about period health and safety. It’s a way to create jobs, fight period poverty, and build awareness all at once.
The Founders’ Vision: Making Sustainable Period Care Mainstream
Dipesh Dhelia, who runs the company as CEO, put it this way: “We want to grow fast, but grow responsibly. We’re hitting the market harder across different product types and sales channels. At the same time, we’re rethinking what period care should look like: more sustainable, more affordable, better performing.” His point is clear: Fabpad isn’t just adding another brand to the shelf. The goal is to actually reset expectations for what a menstrual product can be and prove that eco-friendly options can go mainstream without costing consumers a premium.
Co-founder Shripriya Dhelia focuses on product design, brand strategy, and community programs, with attention to sustainability and women’s health equity. Dipesh handles the business side: strategy, sales, operations, supply chain, and the kind of scaling work that actually gets products into people’s hands.
Who’s Fabpad Competing Against?
The menstrual care startup space in India is getting crowded. Healthfab, for example, has gained traction with its GoPadFree Period Panty. But Fabpad’s approach differs in some ways that matter. It’s selling across multiple channels rather than betting on one. It’s chasing institutional sales from schools and NGOs, not just consumer purchases. And it’s built social impact into the model from day one, which resonates with certain customer segments and corporate buyers.
For the near term, Fabpad’s management reports solid revenue momentum heading into the next few quarters. There’s a healthy order book, confirmed institutional demand, channel expansion underway, and customers buying again. The focus is on growing profitably and not burning cash unnecessarily, which matters when you’re competing for Series A attention later.
What Happens Now?
Fabpad has the funding to make real moves in India’s sustainable menstrual care market. Whether it succeeds depends on actually executing across those multiple sales channels, keeping product quality high, making sure unit economics work out, and getting more women to know the brand exists. The combination of commercial ambitions and social mission creates an interesting narrative for future funding rounds or potential acquirers as the category matures and investor interest in femtech grows.
