Normal disposable diapers are made up of materials that may sound disagreeable to many, and aren’t very comfortable for babies. Kudos diapers were designed so that the part touching the baby’s skin is all cotton. Founder Amrita Saigal, pitched her product on Shark Tank and got a deal with Mark Cuban and Gwyneth Paltrow. As of 2023, Kudos is worth an estimated $4 million.
About the Founder
Amrita Saigal grew up in India, but moved with her family to Los Angeles. She studied mechanical engineering at MIT and later got an MBA from Harvard Business School. A highly impressive education!
Fresh out of college she was hired as a mechanical design engineer at Project & Gamble. In 2010, she started her first business venture, founding Saathi, a sustainable sanitary pad made from banana trees. Four years later, Amrita was hired by Google as a manufacturing operations manager.
Founding the Company
Amrita is passionate about combining sustainability and elegance. That’s how she was able to make her eco-friendly sanitary pad company a success. As she entered her thirties, Saigal recognized another problem that many women face: taking care of their children’s diapers.
Traditional diapers use a lot of plastic materials, and she wanted to change that with innovative engineering. Amrita developed a diaper that was made from 100% cotton to maximize comfort and reduce skin irritation.
Getting a supplier was a challenge but once she sourced one, Kudos was able to launch in 2021. The company follows a direct-to-consumer model and sells monthly subscriptions.
Getting on Shark Tank
Due to its use of cotton instead of plastic, Amrita Saigal’s creation became the first and only disposable baby diaper brand to receive the Cotton Natural Seal from Cotton Inc.
This recognition helped the company raise a seed round. Kudos raised a stunning $2.4 million from investors including April Underwood, XFund, SV Angel, Alpha Bridge Ventures, and Underscore. The Sharks typically don’t like it when companies raise money as potentially their equity could be diluted in the future.
However, the company is looking to raise more capital and bring on a Shark. The founder got approached by the producers of Shark Tank and bagged herself a spot on episode 10 of season 14. Amrita delivered a strong pitch and did a great job explaining her product.
After Shark Tank
Although the episode only just aired, Kudos will see a huge spike in orders and hopefully her website won’t crash! As the business offers a subscription service, the recurring revenue from new customers will be lucrative.
In personal news, she recently had a baby and found out she would be on Shark Tank when her daughter Avni was born. It’s common for businesses to pitch in front of the Sharks but don’t get picked to air. Sometimes this can delay deals because the Sharks themselves want to know if the episode will air.
The sustainable diaper brand is only available on their website, MyKudos.com. But as the company is looking to scale they may expand into retail. Saigal is offering a 10% discount to Shark Tanks on her site. Also, the business hasn’t had any trouble attracting media attention and has already featured on publications such as Forbes, Fast Company and the Boston Globe.
The diapers have an average rating of 5 stars from 12 votes on ThingTesting.com. Amrita’s company has a bright future ahead of it. Currently, Kudos is worth an estimated $4 million. The Boston-based business is thriving and now has seven employees.
