News
Design Engineering graduate continues sustainability start-up success
30 October 2024


Sarah Bailey, who graduated from the Design, Innovation and Creative Engineering programme this year, is already seeing further success for her startup business, Even.
Even produces reusable, and one-size-fits-all period underwear and aims to distribute them at refugee camps and via street vendors. They currently have a trial successfully underway in Greece.
“As they look like normal underwear, women aren't ashamed to hang the pants on their washing lines rather than hide them away, and this means the risk of infection is dramatically reduced and potentially life saving,” she told Business Live .
Along with her business partners Aurusha Kharas and Anushka Mahesh, Bailey secured £12,500 funding from the Ford Family Foundation through their business competition, Ignite. The trio gave one of the winning pitches in a Dragon’s Den-style situation at the event at London’s Shard. Judges included Jack Ford; Sarah Grieves of innovative tech platform Beam; the chief executive of Jigsaw Education Group Sanjeev Bag; and Ground+Air’s Jim Brown.
“The final was a masterclass in pitching and we are looking to help these social enterprises by investing our money, time and experience to maximise their potential and chances of success. Our Family Foundation is keen to invest an initial £3.5m in sustainable, growing and impactful businesses,” said Tony Ford, founder of the Ford Family Foundation, to Business Live.
The team won the prestigious Tata Varsity prize last year and were also shortlisted for Aid Innovation of the Year at AidEx2024 conference in October.
Looking to the future, Sarah says “In 2025, we are set to return 1 million days to women and girls around the world with over 44,000 pre-orders for our low-cost period underwear. Measuring our impact by 'returning days' fills me with so much joy! These are days where menstruators would not have had access to period products forcing them to the impossible choice to either isolate and stay home or craft improvised period products from materials like leaves, toilet paper, old clothing, tent scraps, and more.”
Contact: | Ayden Wilkes |
Email: | a.wilkes@qmul.ac.uk |
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People: | Karen SHOOP Benjamin PARTON |