Company: Hanx
Founders: Farah Kabir & Dr Sarah Welsh, 2017
Website: https://www.hanxofficial.com/
Business: Sex-positive, sustainable, good lookin’ and gynae-backed sexual wellness products.
About Hanx
Founded in 2017 by childhood best friends, Goldman Sachs financial professional Farah Kabir and NHS gynaecological doctor, Sarah Welsh, HANX makes gynaecologist-approved sexual and intimate health products, delivered to your door. HANX aims to support women at every stage of their life cycle, starting with sexual wellness.
Their products tackle the gaps left by traditional condom companies, who benefit from the stigma attached to contraception and intimate healthcare. Having dominated market share for so long, other companies haven’t seen the need to innovate their offering in line with changing cultural attitudes and needs – which is where HANX comes in. They’ve spotted the opportunity for something different, in line with consumers’ desire for greater sustainability and body-friendly ingredients. For instance, their signature product offering is developed to be vegan and made from natural latex – rather than the more commonly used and destined-for-landfill polyurethane (plastic) – which starts to biodegrade in household waste or compost in three months.
In the four years since HANX launched, they’ve hit several key milestones, starting with 1 million HANX condoms in circulation. Whilst they are focused on growing the DTC arm of their business, it’s vital for them to be on shelves in leading supermarkets to build consumer trust. In 2020, despite the challenges of lockdown, they were selected to take part in Sainsbury’s pioneering challenger brand incubator programme, and launched online and in 580+ stores across the UK. This brings them to a total of 2,500 retail outlets including Boots, Ocado, Holland & Barrett and Superdrug – and they’re also the highest rated condom brand on Trustpilot!
They’ve overcome challenges, too – try selling condoms in a global lockdown! They swiftly pivoted their focus based on what their customers really needed, which was convenience and safety. They built the tech to launch HANX Fix, a line of vaginal health treatments that are dispensed online, dispatched same-day and delivered directly to your door.
This created the foundations for the launch of their new contraceptive pill service, HANX Fix: Pill, which launched in Autumn 2021. A same-day-dispatch hormonal contraceptive pill service, it draws on feedback from consumers, their own team’s difficulties and their Co-Founder Sarah’s experience in sexual health clinics. The service tackles disruption and difficulties caused by NHS backlogs, and is a major success in opening up greater access to contraception.
It might have started with condoms, pessaries and hormonal contraception pills, but ultimately, HANX is here to redefine intimate wellness from your first time, to your first child and beyond. Right now, that means sexually active millennials, but their plans for 2022 involve expanding their focus to pregnancy, and also people moving into early menopause. Just as women’s intimate wellness was long ignored by the innovation industry, there is a huge opportunity to innovate within the menopause category, both capturing a new audience and shoring up a long term relationship with existing HANX customers.
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