TenderTide

Menstrual pain was reported by 84.1% of women, with 43.1% reporting that pain occurred during every period, and 41% reporting that pain occurred during some periods. Menstrual pain is very common problem. Moreover, at least one in four women experiences distressing menstrual pain characterized by a need for medication and absenteeism from study or social activities. 781 million women suffer from menstrual pain that's so severe that it affects their daily activities. 

However, it’s estimated that nearly 1 in 5 people with dysmenorrhea — or painful periods with or without an underlying medical issue like endometriosis or uterine fibroids — don’t get relief from existing treatments.

Moreover, women in developing countries such as Vietnam often don't have enough knowledge about sexual and reproductive health. That's why we want to launch this project to support and empower millions of women take care of themselves better and reduce the stigma in the society. 

TenderTide's mission is to help 3 billion women all round the world, especially young women and teenagers learn how to take care and love themselves from the smallest things. TenderTide provides a kit and online sharing platform for women to learn about reproductive health and relieve their menstrual pain. TenderTide products has three major components:

1. The main product is a functional gum which made from biodegrable materials and natural herbs which can relieve the menstrual pain and other symptoms. This product is safe for health and has very few side-effects. It also is safe for the environment. It is also highly efficient with fast performance thanks to the mechanism of the herbs. 

2. a small and portable illustration booklet to guide customers how to use the products to relieve their menstrual pain and share good habits and tips in a period. 

3. an online platform make it accessible for women from any countries to learn about reproductive health. Women in developing countries are still lack of knowledge about it.

TenderTide serves women, especially young ones in developing countries who have very few choices and solutions for their menstrual pain. There are 48.327.923 women in Vietnam (2023), and there are still lack of education for reproductive health.  According to a survey conducted in February 2022 about the difficulty in finding information regarding the areas of female health and wellness in Vietnam 50 percent of female respondents stated to find information related to general health and wellness with difficulty. Moreover, 33 percent of female respondents answered that information related to period health was difficult to find. 

By providing an easy-to-use, affordable gum with natural ingredients, we provide a new way for millions of women to deal with menstrual pain. Moreover, we don't just relieve the pain in short term, we try to educate them about reproductive health through the online sharing platform and help them learn how to have good habits in the periods. It will help them reduce the symptoms in long term. 

 As a young female born and living in Vietnam, a developing country, I understand very well the problems other women have to face with their period pain. I have seen a lot of women, who are my friends, my sisters, and my mother, experience severe pain but really don't know what to do. It affects their study at school and affects their quality of life, and their productivity at work. While talking with Phuong, my friend who is living in the US, I understand more about the problems happening all around the world. Therefore, I connect with Linh, who is a senior student studying medicine and Phuong, a PhD chemical engineering to research and find a solution for this problem. We also have An, studying pharmacy, Ngoc, Chau, anh Phuong Anh, all of them are researchers working in labs of the universities. We surveyed 312 women in Vietnam and US, and we also took deep interviews to understand more about their insight. We are happy that our journey has received a lot of support from the advisors, who are postdocs at Vietnam universities and doctors. We know that our solution is doing the right things as a lot of females say that they need a product like this and really ready to try one. Their feedbacks make us more confident, and we also develop the product after listening to the feedback. The box of instruction cards is designed by a recommendation of a teenager who suffers from pain but doesn't know what to do.

Until now, as we are developing and testing the prototypes, there are about 20 people who have used our product. The feedbacks of them are great and we are expanding more. 

Existing treatments are inefficient, inconvenient and didn't solve social stigma. Hot-water bottles are inconvenient, and take time to work, while pain relievers have a lot of side effects, which are not good for overall health in the long run. The existing treatments also didn't remove the stigma about menstruation. In many countries, such as Vietnam, menstruation still has a lot of stigma and women don't have a lot of knowledge about dealing with their menstrual pain. 

We provide a solution which is affordable, user-friendly and safe for health and the environment. The mechanism of herb-extract ingredients makes the pain relieve better and faster. After spending months researching about the appropriate formula, we produce a gum which is biodegradable and cure the pain better. Dill is as effective for easing menstrual cramps as mefenamic acid, an OTC drug for menstrual pain. The ingredients are resourceful in Vietnam, makes our product become affordable to every women. 

We also have digital learning platform with lessons from experts such as doctors and real stories' sharing from women all around the world. We also create a chatbot assistant to answer questions in a private way. We believe it will reduce the stigma and make women become more active and confident. 

We want to empower 3 billion of women in the world to take care and love themselves better. We want to help them feel no more hesitant about their periods and become confident. We believe women should have equal rights and reduce barriers to learn and work effectively. Our Sustainable Development Goals are 3 (Good health and well-being), 5(Gender Equality) and 12 (Responsible consumption and production). 

We plan to do this through 1) Educate women about reproductive health through an online digital platform with resources from experts' lessons and real stories' sharing. 

2) Distribute the "smart" gum and the booklet which we believe can be a buddy to women in their periods and help them feel better.

3) Through word of mouth and media channels, we want to spread this message globally. 

The problem root cause comes from lack of care about this problem in the society, lack of education about reproductive health and social stigma.

Therefore, we believe our solution has an impact on this problem because:

1) Our online learning platform which have lessons about reproductive health and a chatbot assistant to answer their questions. Women will have more knowledge and become more open to this topic. Women also can ask questions without worrying about stigma.

2) The way we help women relieve their pain is friendly and women will be more confident to use it as it is in a friendly and convenient form. 

We have 9 people in core team and 2 advisors who are professors from the universities. 

We have almost 80% of our core team is women. Our team lead is woman and we also have members who study and work in different nations. 

Our key customers are women, especially young women (13-24) years old, who can have menstrual pains but lack of experience to solve it. We will sell our gum for $10/package. However, as we want to make this product accessible to as much people as possible, we want to collaborate with NGOs and other companies to provide free for an appropriate quantity for women. 

We can apply for grants and programs of NGOs. We can seek funds from NGOs, impact ventures and acceleration program. Our business model is cooperative as we want to collaborate with other companies and investors in the ecosystem to provide products to as much women as possible.