Women, here’s a way to love your periods

Photo credit: wayne lo

It drops in on you at inopportune moments. Governs your travel, sports, and even love life. Causes you pain. Determines what color of clothes you wear. And even controls your mood (at which point others might even call it a mood swing)!

I am talking periods, of course. Those monthly cycles that most women admit they have hated at some point or the other, and tried to wish away.

But here’s the thing. If you are a little planned,  periods can seem quite easy – and even fun. And that’s exactly where the app LoveCycles steps in.

Built by Plackal, a three-year-old Bangalore-based startup that has several consumer-oriented mobile apps to its credit, LoveCycles helps women keep track of their periods.

With 6 million downloads across 192 countries and 1.2 million monthly active users, it is addressing a big concern. “We want to empower women with information and technology,” says co-founder John Paul, an IIM Bangalore graduate.

Have a happy period

Photo credit: menstruationstasse.net

Only 12 percent of India’s 355 million menstruating women use pads. Tampons, cups, period panties, liners are unheard of for vast swathes of the population.

But as smartphone usage and internet penetration grows, startups are beginning to focus on the much neglected space. Those5Days, Saral Designs, Menstrupedia, Robust Solution, and LoveCycles have each been trying to fill the vacuum in their own way.

LoveCycles offers a period-tracking calendar via a mobile app. You get to keep tabs of symptoms, moods, and “intimate” days. If you are alert enough, it could help detect early signs of pregnancy too. It can send pill reminders and tell you about potentially unsafe days – that is, days when you can get pregnant.

The app is available in 13 international languages, including Hindi.

John projects that the app will have 5 million monthly active users in the next 18 months, and 2 million of these will be from India. Right now, monetization doesn’t seem to be a priority and they’d rather focus on building the customer base.

Investors evidently see potential.