Exclusive Report by 36Kr | Digital Menstrual Care Company Enya Secures Millions of US Dollars in Financing with Its Channel Advantages

Text by | Lan Jie

Recently, 36Kr learned that Enya, a sanitary napkin brand, has received a seed - round financing of millions of dollars from 500 Global, an early - stage US - dollar venture capital firm. It is reported that this financing will be mainly used for brand building and expanding the Chinese market.

Enya is a digital menstrual care company founded in Singapore in 2020. It has expanded into markets including Singapore, Malaysia, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Since this year, it has entered the Chinese mainland market, aiming to provide high - quality menstrual care for women globally.

Chris Teo, the brand's founder, is a senior cross - border entrepreneur with dual - track experience in FinTech and Femtech. He is now focused on entrepreneurship in the Femtech field, committed to applying his professional experience in technology cost management and efficiency improvement to Femtech projects in the fast - moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector to promote the efficient and large - scale development of the enterprise.

The brand expects its revenue to double this year. With its entry into the Chinese market, its revenue is expected to exceed ten million dollars next year.

Zhao Mengying, the major shareholder of Enya, told 36Kr that Enya is a company known for its product and channel capabilities.

Specifically, Enya's product categories include sanitary napkins, heat patches, menstrual cups, and period panties. Among them, sanitary napkins are the main products promoted in China, all made of 100% organic cotton.

Currently, there are no shortage of sanitary napkin brands in the domestic market with similar claims, such as PurCotton. In response, Enya's founder told 36Kr that the part where it can form a competitive edge lies in higher standards - Enya's products have passed the certification of the US FDA (US Food and Drug Administration).

The FDA certification requires passing tests with zero detection of 16 heavy metals and 3 types of pathogenic bacteria, with standards about three times higher than the national standards.

Zhao Mengying also said, "Singapore has stricter management of hygiene brands, and we have sold well there."

In addition, Enya's sanitary napkin products also have some ingenious packaging designs - they are packed in fashionable boxes, allowing consumers to store sanitary napkins more conveniently and beautifully. At the same time, small bags are also provided for consumers to carry when traveling.

Enya products

In terms of channels, Enya's previous main market was Southeast Asia. Limited by the local's limited online payment methods and poor logistics infrastructure, it focused on offline channels, thus accumulating relatively strong channel capabilities. It has reached cooperation with convenience store brand 7 - Eleven, health and beauty retail brand Watsons, etc., and is about to reach cooperation with Sam's Club.

According to CHRIS, Enya's founder, Enya has currently reached a large - order cooperation with DKSH (a global market expansion service company), which will cover the main sales channels in China.

Next, Enya will focus its development on the Chinese market, aiming to increase the sales share of the Chinese market to 70% - 80% of the entire brand.

On the one hand, this is because the Chinese sanitary napkin market is large enough. According to the prediction of CRI, the scale of the Chinese sanitary napkin market will maintain a compound annual growth rate of 5% - 8% in the next few years, and is expected to exceed 105 billion yuan in 2025.

On the other hand, this year's CCTV 3·15 Gala exposed the chaotic production of sanitary products including sanitary napkins, plunging this niche market into a trust crisis, and the brands are thus entering a reshuffle period.

Dovee, a brand with star - driven traffic, has become a rising star. Its online sales volume rushed into the top 3 in the industry in just 14 days, surpassing established brands such as Sofy and Always. However, along with the traffic and sales volume, there are also doubts - some netizens still reported on social platforms that there were unknown black foreign objects in Dovee's sanitary napkins.

In other words, there are still many variables in the chaotic sanitary napkin market.

So, what are Enya's strategies for entering the Chinese market?

CHRIS said that currently, the products launched by the brand for the Chinese market are mainly sanitary napkins and heat patches more suitable for the Asian physique. In the future, health products that can relieve women's menstrual pain and anxiety will also be updated.

In addition, CHRIS also pointed out that he hopes to combine his products with AI technology. Specifically, Enya will launch a WeChat mini - program for consumers to record their menstrual conditions, including the number of days and blood volume, so that the brand can launch more customized products and help consumers pay attention to their physical condition.

In terms of channels, Enya will deepen the "full - scene penetration" strategy, building a three - level channel network of instant retail (Meituan/JD Daojia) + high - end convenience stores (FamilyMart/Lawson) + supermarket systems (Yonghui/RT - Mart). By entering more than 8,000 convenience store terminals, it will reshape consumers' brand perception through high - frequency contact points, transform the convenience of "always available" into the "quality first choice" in users' minds, and at the same time, use the convenience store data system to achieve accurate prediction of sales and reduce channel inventory risks.

Enya will also expand its online channels simultaneously, expecting to sell products on platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Tmall, and JD.com, and cooperate with influencers with matching tones to sell products better.