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Imagine walking into a professional event, feeling the sudden, unmistakable onset of your period, and realizing you’re unprepared. You rush to the restroom, only to find a rusted, coin-operated metal box demanding a quarter. In 2026, who even carries a quarter?
For Claire Coder, this wasn’t just a moment of personal frustration—it was an epiphany that led to a massive business opportunity. “Toilet paper is offered for free,” Coder says. “Why aren’t period products?”
That question led Coder to drop out of college at 18 to launch Aunt Flow. Today, the company has supplied more than 34 million products to thousands of institutions, from Google’s headquarters to the home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, and is a portfolio company of my venture capital firm, Chloe Capital. But this isn’t just about pads and tampons; it’s a masterclass in how to turn a neglected “pain point” into a dominant B2B infrastructure play.
The pivot from solopreneur startup to B2B powerhouse
In the early days, Coder was the ultimate “solopreneur,” hand-delivering products and packing orders herself. At the same time, she kept her eye on the bigger picture.
“I’ve never viewed this as a small mission,” she explains. “86 percent of women have started their period unexpectedly in public without supplies. We weren’t just filling a gap; we were helping define a new standard for bathrooms everywhere.”
The inflection point came when Coder realized that to win, she didn’t just need a better tampon—she needed to own the delivery system.
The competitive moat: hardware as a service
While competitors focused on direct-to-consumer subscriptions, Coder turned Aunt Flow into a hardware company. They designed proprietary, ADA-compliant, “free-vend” dispensers. By installing these into the physical infrastructure of a building, Aunt Flow created a formidable competitive moat.
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