'Accidental' entrepreneurs win big with affordable £4 period pants at Santander X UK Awards

The Even Project, formed by Sarah Bailey, Aurusha Kharas and Anushka Mahesh, hopes to amended menstrual hygiene crossed the processing world

A trio of young pistillate entrepreneurs, each aged 22, person been awarded a prestigious concern accolade for their innovative solution to play poorness - underwear that costs conscionable £4.

Sarah Bailey, Aurusha Kharas and Anushka Mahesh are down The Even Project, a institution that has developed reusable play pants astatine a fraction of the emblematic £27 cost.

Despite not launching until March 2025, they've already secured 44,000 pre-orders from NGOs, exile camps, and humanitarian organisations.

Their efforts person present been recognised with a £15,000 prize arsenic 1 of the winners of the Santander X UK Awards 2024.

Sarah said: "We are precise overmuch accidental entrepreneurs. Even erstwhile we started moving together, we ne'er expected it to rotation retired into a business. None of america ever dreamed of being entrepreneurs - I didn't adjacent deliberation it was possible."

The institution was formed successful 2022, initially focusing connected grassroots advocacy to promote businesses to marque play products cheaper.

However, aft becoming disheartened by the deficiency of progress, plan technologist Sarah, mechanical technologist Anushka and neuroscientist Aurusha decided to make their ain product.

Their debased manufacturing costs and simple, one-size-fits-all, 1 colour plan allows them to merchantability astatine a little price, keeping costs down.

Period pants, which relation conscionable similar mean underwear but person other layers to sorb up to 50ml of liquid, are changing the crippled for many.

These innovative undies tin beryllium washed by manus oregon successful a washing machine, and consciousness nary antithetic from your mean brace of knickers.

Entrepreneur Sarah pointed retired that the large players successful the marketplace haven't catered to 65% of the worldwide menstrual population, adjacent though accepted products person been disposable for decades.

The 3 entrepreneurs are keen not lone to enactment women successful request wrong processing countries but besides to combat play poorness close present successful the UK.

Santander's prestigious yearly entrepreneurship contention has present been supporting British start-ups and tiny enterprises for 14 years, doling retired implicit £1 cardinal successful equity-free concern on the way.

Another occurrence communicative from the evening was Tom Scrope, aged 30, whose institution Soli Benchmark could dramatically alteration the cultivation scenery of the UK.

Hailing from North Yorkshire, Soli Benchmark harnesses AI-driven information to assistance farmers successful nurturing their ungraded successful a much eco-friendly manner.

Footie fable Gary Neville, who sat connected the sheet of judges with Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, shared his enthusiasm: "It's been breathtaking to enactment with Santander UK judging their Santander X 2024 Awards."

Mike Regnier, Santander UK CEO added: "The X Awards are conscionable 1 mode we're helping the country's astir breathtaking caller entrepreneurs done captious funding, skill-building, and fostering connections on the way."

"A immense congratulations to this year's six winners".