This innovation by 3 Indian men gives women the freedom to stand and pee. Phew… what a relief!

C’mon ladies, accept it. Public loos in India are a nightmare for us. Every woman thinks twice before using a public toilet in this country because she knows for a fact that it’s likely to be filthy, unhygienic and unbearably smelly.

But guess what, ladies? A trio of Delhi guys has given your reluctant usage of public toilets a thought and introduced a product called ‘PeeBuddy’, that assists women to ‘stand and urinate’ without having to make contact with dirty toilet seats.

Now how awesome is that?

Folomojo spoke to Deep Bajaj, one of the innovators of this unique product; here’s the PeeBuddy project story:

Four couples went on a road trip to Jaipur early last year, during which Deep constantly heard his fellow women travellers crib about dirty loos. The women, he says, made life hell with their insistence on stopping at every petrol pump on the way in the hope of finding a clean toilet somewhere! Tired of listening to the women rant about wishing they could stand and pee, and faced with the appalling state of public loos, Deep and his friends decided to do something radical.

How PeeBuddy came about, in the words of its creator

Deep says: “On that road trip, one of the wives said she wished she was in Europe where she could have had access to a reusable plastic device that would allow her to urinate in any dirty toilet. This comment rang a bell in my head. Initially, everyone just laughed and ruled out the idea of having something like this in India. However, somewhere deep down I didn’t want to let this go and that’s how work on PeeBuddy started.”

“I gave up my full time advertising career, and my friends from the Delhi-Jaipur trip, Mohit Bajaj and Rahul Anand, joined in to take up the project full time in April 2014.”

“We knew women didn’t have access to clean toilets all the time and they needed this product as much as we needed validation. Our only concern was our initial break. We knew that once women got to hear about PeeBuddy, we were going to sell like hot cakes.”

What the product is all about

“Loos in India are unclean and the chances of contracting infectious diseases are high. So, we launched ‘PeeBuddy’ which is India’s first portable urine director. A revolutionary eco-friendly product, Pee-Buddy Disposable Urinary Funnel for Females allows women to pee without sitting, or squatting.”

A lightweight product that fits into a small handbag like any other accessory, PeeBuddy is available in packs of 5, 10 and 20 and is priced at Rs. 120,  Rs. 200 and Rs. 350 respectively.

On how and where it can come in handy

This product is for every woman. She might be a traveller moving around cities, a trekker out in the wild, a college goer who loves partying at nightclubs, a music lover at a rock concert, a housewife shopping for grocery, a commuter in local trains or a corporate executive on a long flight – it doesn’t matter. PeeBuddy is for all those women who don’t want to worry about catching  urinary tract infections (UTIs) and, more importantly, don’t want to use dirty loos. C’mon who likes to do that?

The story so far

“For now, we are are relying heavily on social media and word of mouth to create a buzz around our product,” says Deep. “E-commerce websites like HealthKart, Snapdeal and Amazon.in are offering our product to their customers. But it is the retail stores that are taking some time to accept and acknowledge this product.”

“Our biggest validation, however, came when the organisers of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon made the product available to all women participants.”

“The market is limitless, especially when PeeBuddy has the potential to also be a woman’s companion in all sorts of medical conditions and in pregnancy. So far, we have sold more than 20,000 packs and look to grow from strength to strength.”

The three biggest obstacles

1) Battling against the mindset:  “When we approach retailers or any major company we face the wrath of a typical male chauvinist psychology,” says Deep. “Most companies either do not accept the product, probably because it has the word ‘pee’ in it, or they are just way too shy to be associated with something as radical as this. I don’t know what the problem really is, but something is amiss for sure. We definitely need a change in the mindset of decision makers in such companies. Why can’t they just let the product be there and allow the women to make the choice of buying it or not?”

2) Funding:  “We’ve so far invested 65 lakhs and our product has made about 15 lakhs. We really need investors to fund us so that we can take our product to the right places at the right time. Not just the men, but we would like women also to pool in and help us spread the word. We are here to help our own women, but if we do not get help, like so many start-ups we will fizzle out too. That’s something I really do not want, especially since our product is of great use.”

3) No prominent female face is taking notice: “As of now, we do not have any prominent women coming forward to publicly recognise our product. A recommendation or even a tweet from someone like Kalki Kochelin or Shobha De or any other well-known influencer would really help us. It’s just a matter of time really. Once one company takes notice of our product, others will follow suit.”

Taking PeeBuddy to rural India

“We are most definitely working towards taking this product to women in rural parts… We are trying hard to tie up with major companies as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. Even if they buy about 10,000 packs, we are ready to take it to different parts of India. But they have to come forward and support us through and through. Even major hospitals and government agencies have to recognise the use of this product and make the most of it.”

Women love PeeBuddy!

“7 out of 10 women see the relevance of PeeBuddy. We have had women thank us for creating such an awesome product.”

A message for Folomojo readers

“Share this and spread the word! Women need to wake up and take notice of us. PeeBuddy is not here to make money. We are here so that we can help women pee in peace! And why not?”

“Who are we men to decide what is clean for a woman?”

Ladies, are you still jealous that men don’t need clean toilets to relieve themselves? Join the revolution. Get PeeBuddy on the shelves of your neighbourhood stores!

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