Chinese online sanitary pad startup Honeymate raises million-dollar pre-A round

Chinese startup Honeymate announced this week that it has raised a pre-A funding round of more than RMB 10 million (US$1.6 million). Just how much more is unclear, and the company also hasn’t disclosed its investors, but the new investment does push Honeymate’s valuation to RMB 100 million (US$16 million).

Honeymate is an online only ecommerce brand that makes sanitary pads for women. The company takes a luxury approach, importing materials from abroad, and incorporating aesthetic elements into several of its product designs. The pads are available for sale via the company’s shops on WeChat and Tmall only, and they do seem to be being embraced by customers. Honeymate’s most popular package has sold nearly 5,000 units just on Tmall in the past month, and its customer reviews are really good. Chinese tech blog 36kr also gave the products a good review.

The company’s founders – who are both men – told 36kr they started the company to make getting safe pads easier for their girlfriends as a response to safety concerns about some of the materials in Chinese-made sanitary pads.

Honeymate’s Chinese name, Hunimei, translates to “protect your little sister” – a cutesy way of saying protect your vagina. It’s the sort of branding that might not appeal to China’s older generations, but the tongue-in-cheek approach is apparently working quite well among China’s young ecommerce shoppers.

More broadly, Honeymate’s business model is becoming an increasingly common way for Chinese startups to get in on the bustling ecommerce market. It’s far too late to create a platform, but creating online-only brands like Honeymate is becoming a popular alternative.

(Source: 36kr)