India's First Biodegradable Sanitary Pad

Aakar is a Mumbai-based social enterprise that provides access to affordable, 100% biodegradable sanitary pads and menstrual health education to low income women and girls in rural India. TTS funding of $1M ($485K grant already board approved and disbursed; $515K revenue-based loan) from GCC over a 2-year period will enable Aakar to grow the network of mini-production facilities (spokes or units) by 40 across three states and test and tweak two key aspects of its operating model: (i) a shift to mandating the manufacture of only biodegradable pads across all units and, (ii) the development of central hubs. As a result, Aakar will be able to empower ~550 women through employment in the production and/or sales of sanitary pads, and provide 160,000-200,000 adolescent girls access to menstrual products and education.