New brand joins the race for eco-friendly diapers that won’t give the planet a rash
Kudos, a new startup from two former Procter & Gamble execs, is angling to be the last word in diaper brands for parents looking to protect babies’ bums and the planet.
The company has raised $2.4 million in financing from some pretty big-name investors as it joins a crowded field of companies looking to soak up the competition, according to a report from TechCrunch.
Kudos secret weapon is its reliance on 100% cotton, and its status as the first and only disposable baby diaper to earn the cotton natural seal from Cotton Inc. for having 100% cotton touching a baby’s skin instead of plastic.
That cotton is complimented by using an absorbent core made of chlorine-free wood fluff pulp harvested through the Forest Stewardship Council.
Those bona fides helped the company nab funding from Foundation Capital, XFund, PJC, Precursor Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, SV Angel, Underscore VC, Alpha Bridge Ventures, April Underwood and more, according to TechCrunch.
Of course, the cotton certification comes with other problems. It all depends on where the cotton is sourced and how it’s grown. As the World Wildlife Fund notes, “current cotton production methods are environmentally unsustainable — ultimately undermining the industry’s ability to maintain future production.”
That’s why other companies, like Believe Diapers, have turned to bamboo for their materials.
Still, the market for childcare products is huge — just witness the $20 million celebrity entrepreneurs Kirsten Bell and Dax Shepard have raised for their own Hello Bello line.
Alternatively, companies like Michigan’s Ecovia Renewables are looking to make compostable diapers out of proprietary biopolymers and Esembly Baby is trying to convince parents to forego disposable diapers and focus on reusable ones.
With any of these products performance is a must.
“When it comes to diapers, parents aren’t willing to give that same leeway for a sustainable product,” co-founder and CEO Amrita Saigal told TechCrunch.
