Joe GallopThe designers of female urinal PEEQUAL have raised £250,000 in their first funding round, with 250 units currently under construction and several deals being signed with large-scale festival operators in the coming weeks.
University of Bristol graduates Amber Probyn (pictured right) and Hazel McShane (left) said their flatpack portable urinals made of recycled sea plastics produce 98% less carbon to construct than traditional portable toilets.
The duo said they designed the urinal with the aim of shortening queues for women’s facilities at large scale events, and claim they are six times faster to use than conventional toilets.
The investors are the British Design Fund, Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield, former Gü COO Sarah Jones, and angel investors Chris Stamp and Elaine Groenestein.
McShane said, “This funding is not only a huge vote of confidence in PEEQUAL but also a big moment for pee equality the world over. We want PEEQUAL to empower women to take back their time and break the taboo around female urination.
“We’re really proud to be changing the way women pee, and doing it in a safe way which reduces time spent in queues. Because our urinals are modular and flat packed, just one of our festival orders this summer will take 70 lorries – or 140 lorry trips – off the roads.”
PEEQUAL is working with social enterprise PEEPOWER to turn the urine into electricity. It also has plans to convert the urine into fertilizer in the future.
The pair came up with the initial design while studying at university and the idea won them £15,000 from the institution’s start-up competition. Since graduating in 2021 they have toured UK festivals, gaining user feedback and tweaking their design.
Shambala Festival (cap. 15,000) site manager Christine Dent said her team plans to bring the urinals back this year after using them in 2021.
According to the Alison Rose review of Female Entrepreneurship, less than 1% of UK venture funding goes to all-female teams and nearly half (48%) of investment teams include no women at all.
Probyn said, “Being part of the 1% of women who successfully raise funding, I feel humbled and passionate about helping other female founders do the same.”