From Whispered Taboo to Bold Conversations: How Srijana Bagaria Is Rewriting India’s Hygiene Narrative with Pee Safe
📝InterviewsIn this International Women’s Day 2026 special, Pee Safe Co-founder Srijana Bagaria shares how the brand is challenging stigma, empowering women, and building a future where hygiene conversations are open, accessible, and stigma-free.
India’s feminine hygiene market is evolving rapidly, fueled by rising awareness, digital influence, and a growing focus on menstrual health, intimate wellness, and sexual hygiene. The market is projected to surpass $7–8 billion by 2030, reflecting a significant cultural shift toward openness and self-care.
However, challenges persist, especially in rural and semi-urban regions, where access and awareness remain limited. Brands like Pee Safe are not only innovating products but also reshaping conversations around women’s health.
As part of our International Women’s Day 2026 special series, celebrating voices that are accelerating action for gender equality, we spoke with Srijana Bagaria, Co-founder of Pee Safe, about building a purpose-driven brand in a deeply sensitive category.
From Personal Struggle to Purpose-Driven Innovation
StartupTalky: How has your perspective as co-founder continued to shape Pee Safe's product development and mission, and what role does she play in the company today?
Srijana Bagaria: The mission of Pee Safe exists at its core, as I used my own life experiences to create the brand, which developed from my UTI struggle that originated in a public restroom. I co-founded the company and maintain my role in product development and strategic decisions through my work, which aligns with female needs and practical solutions. Pee Safe has expanded its product lineup to include menstrual care, intimate wellness, and sexual health items, which women developed through their participation in all aspects of product development.
Breaking Taboos: The Biggest Challenge in Women’s Hygiene Marketing
StartupTalky: Pee Safe has expanded from a single toilet hygiene product to a comprehensive personal hygiene brand… What has been the most challenging stigma to break, and how has the conversation evolved since 2013?
Srijana Bagaria: Pee Safe faced its most difficult challenge when it worked towards eliminating deep-seated social stigma about women's personal hygiene practices. The brand introduced its toilet seat sanitizer to the market in 2013. The combination of retail store doubts, cultural body shame, and advertising bans created challenges.
The past ten years have brought about major changes in public discussions. Urban consumers possess better knowledge, digital platforms enable people to talk freely, and women show greater interest in advanced solutions that go beyond basic hygiene methods. Pee Safe has expanded its business into menstrual care products, intimate wash items, and sexual wellness merchandise, which demonstrates how society has progressed from viewing these subjects as taboo to accepting them as normal elements of women's health.
The brand's success shows that India has begun to develop an advanced understanding of hygiene, which derives from public education and human compassion.
Bridging the Gap: Expanding Access Beyond Urban India
StartupTalky: What is Pee Safe doing to bridge the accessibility gap in rural and semi-urban India while balancing growth and social impact?
Srijana Bagaria: The founders of Pee Safe admit that rural and semi-urban parts of India experience unequal access to menstrual hygiene and sanitation facilities despite the company's presence in over 100 Indian cities and 20 international markets. The brand conducts menstrual hygiene management sessions in schools and partners up with NGOs to conduct donation drives.
Pee Safe has expanded its retail presence by establishing partnerships with physical stores. The company's direct-to-consumer expansion drives investment into awareness initiatives and wider product distribution. The brand focuses on achieving profitability yet continues to support its social mission through business expansion, which helps improve hygiene access and education for women in underserved communities.
2026 Vision: Scaling Awareness and Impact at the Grassroots Level
StartupTalky: What bold initiative is Pee Safe launching in 2026 to accelerate women’s health awareness?
Srijana Bagaria: Pee Safe will expand its main program, which focuses on teaching menstrual health and making hygiene products available to people during International Women's Day 2026. The brand plans to establish community awareness programs throughout Indian semi-urban and rural areas after it achieves ecosystem growth.
The educational initiative will use practical workshops together with digital learning resources and partnerships between NGOs to teach students about menstrual health and safe sanitation methods, and environmentally friendly product usage. The aim is to increase three measurable targets, which include improved awareness scores and expanded usage of safe menstrual products, and better hygiene practices in areas outside urban centers. Pee Safe intends to establish commercial growth through educational programs, which will provide women across the country with better health knowledge and dignity, according to its 2026 goals.
Women at the Core: Building with Empathy and Real Voices
StartupTalky: How do you ensure women’s voices remain central to every product decision?
Srijana Bagaria: Pee Safe operates within a market dedicated to women by establishing active listening as the main principle driving the company's expansion. He has consistently maintained that the brand was born from understanding a real woman’s concern, and that principle continues to guide product decisions.
Women’s voices enter the innovation process through consumer feedback loops and product testing panels, which women lead. Women work in essential positions throughout the organization, which include product development and marketing, and brand strategy, to create policies that reflect actual experiences instead of common assumptions. The company shows a strong female presence in its main teams, which strengthens the company's credibility, empathy, and authenticity across all product categories.
Competing with Giants: Staying Authentic in a Crowded Market
StartupTalky: How does Pee Safe compete with larger FMCG players while maintaining authenticity?
Srijana Bagaria: Our D2C business model received strong validation from our 2020 victory at Amazon India, which awarded us the Best SMB Brand of the Year title, and from our established consumer trust. We compete against traditional FMCG companies and well-financed startups, yet we maintain our initial goal of providing effective solutions for women's hygiene requirements.
We establish our authentic self by listening to consumer feedback while developing better products through transparent communication. Our educational campaigns, together with community outreach and expert health partnerships, serve as our primary marketing strategy instead of relying on extensive advertising budgets. Our organization achieves success through our ability to connect with others. Our organization maintains its dedication to purpose-driven work, which prevents our expansion from harming our ability to establish credibility and maintain customer trust.
A Message to Women: Normalizing Conversations by 2030
StartupTalky: What message would you like to share with young women this Women’s Day, and what is Pee Safe’s vision for 2030?
Srijana Bagaria: The message we bring to Indian women today stands as a complete declaration of their rights, which includes bodily autonomy and personal health, and their right to maintain dignity without feeling shame. The topics of periods, hygiene, and intimate wellness should receive open, healthy discussions instead of being treated as secret matters to be whispered about. When we started Pee Safe, even basic conversations about menstrual or intimate care were considered taboo. Today, the dialogue has changed because of educational efforts, community inputs, and women activists who voice their perspectives.
Final Takeaway: From Taboo to Transformation
As part of our International Women’s Day 2026 series, Pee Safe’s story highlights how purpose-driven brands can lead cultural change. By combining product innovation, education, and empathy, the company is not just building a business; it is reshaping how India talks about women’s health.
With its eyes set on 2030, Pee Safe continues to push toward a future where hygiene is accessible, conversations are normalized, and every woman can live with confidence and dignity.
Shubham Kumar