The maker of UK’s first fully certified flushable sanitary pad has raised over £730k to increase production and ready the brand for a retail launch.
Planera, whose Fluus range of period pads are said to degrade in minutes rather than 500 years, has beaten a £600k convertible offer on Seedrs and is currently overfunding at £735k.
The company will use the proceeds to speed up its manufacturing capabilities.
Its proprietary equipment currently produces flushable and microplastic-free pads at 450 pads per min and the brand aims to grow that to 600 pads for its medium pads and liners.
This production increase would drive down the cost for flushable period pads in retail, it said.
Fluus launched to an online community in early January 2023 as a pilot DTC proposition, but is aiming to roll the product out to third party vendors.
It said recent business-to-business and retail interest had “accelerated discussions for a UK retail launch”.
The brand is also in discussions over white label partnerships and licensing its technology into other absorbent hygiene applications.
This funding round is a top-up on the £7.5m previously raised from co-leads Eileen Burbidge of Passion Capital and Silicon Valley-based Valo Ventures alongside Vectr VC, True Global, Case for Her and angel investors.
Overfunding will also enable the brand to improve its quality control vision systems, labelling to reduce supply chain complexities and invest further in R&D into bio-based microplastic free polymers.
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