Femtech is a combination of the words female and tech, and refers to companies and services that focus on women's lives. It is a technology that aims to improve women's health and quality of life, such as menstrual cups, menstrual underwear, women's health products, and condoms. Most of the founders of femtech in Korea are women. We met with siblings Yoon Song-i (38, female) and Yoon Tae-jun (36, male), co-CEOs of 'Tip', who jumped into the femtech startup business, a wasteland for male entrepreneurs.

The name of the company, Teap, is derived from the initials of the name of co-CEO Taejun Yoon, who provided the first idea. Teap has aimed to be a global company since its establishment. By using the initials of the Korean alphabet in the company name, we hoped to make it known that it is a Korean company.

Yoon Tae-jun worked as a researcher for a year in a women’s empowerment program in Ethiopia starting in February 2016. While working in the field to help promote women’s rights, he encountered the dire state of Ethiopian women’s menstrual products. “There were cases where they used leaves or even mud as sanitary pads.”

Upon returning to Korea, Taejun Yoon realized the high cost of sanitary pads in Korea in 2017 when he saw teenagers using insoles and tissues instead of disposable sanitary pads for economic reasons. Following this, suspicions about harmful substances in sanitary pads arose, and distrust in the safety of disposable sanitary pads grew. This led him to think of menstrual cups, which are economical and environmentally friendly because they are reusable.

Since he was the only man to enter the feminine hygiene business, there were many difficulties in testing the product. This was because he could not find any room for improvement through actual use. Yoon Tae-jun suggested a partnership to his older sister, Yoon Song-i. Yoon Song-i thought that a man could create innovative corporate value by coming up with a menstrual cup, a product for women. Yoon Song-i, who had suffered from menstrual pain since she was young, said, “I joined because I thought I could solve some of that inconvenience through the feminine hygiene business.”

T-Tip recruited 20 members of its own experimental group and conducted a test for a year. It was revised repeatedly until more than 90% of the experimental group was satisfied. The 'T-Tip Cup', which was born after a year of testing, is a product that combines the comfortable fit of the existing belt type with the high capacity of the ball type, taking into account the body structure of Korean women.

The T-cup has the optimal hardness. Ms. Yoon Song-i explained about existing menstrual cups, “If it is too hard, it can be a burden to the body, and if it is too soft, blood can leak out.” The T-cup is manufactured with the appropriate hardness, and is a product that can resolve the discomfort of both beginners and experts in menstrual cups.

Menstrual cups were born after much thought, but they did not receive favorable responses from consumers from the beginning. When the company first uploaded a promotional video for T-Sip on YouTube, there were even malicious comments because men were making women’s products. Yoon Tae-jun said, “I hid in the background for 3-4 years after starting the business.”

Yoon Tae-jun was able to stand before the world after consumers recognized the value of the product. “As more and more people started using T-Sup products and became fans, I gained the courage to stop hiding.”

Although it was criticized for having a male co-CEO, T-Tup has instead established itself as a “company created by men and women.” Yoon Tae-joon believes that men should not avoid women’s issues because they are men, but rather listen to women’s discomfort because they are men. He said, “I am leading T-Tup for a better life for women and for gender equality.” “One gender alone cannot solve gender conflict and gender discrimination. Proper feminism is listening to each other’s stories and solving problems together.”

“As a man, I have a responsibility to speak out for gender equality,” said Yoon Tae-jun. “I want to contribute to solving social conflicts through T-Tup.” T-Tup’s business goal is to become the number one women’s wellness company. Currently, femtech in Korea is limited to feminine hygiene products. T-Tup wants to expand its business beyond hygiene products to areas such as education and fashion for women’s lives.

Source: Ewha University Newspaper ( https://inews.ewha.ac.kr )