A women-led company building Bangladesh's menstrual hygiene ecosystem, so that no woman or girl has to stop what she is doing because her period started.
Our work advances three UN Global Goals
In 2019, Bushra E Anjum travelled four kilometres across Dhaka just to buy basic menstrual supplies. That walk is the reason Shapla Wellbeing exists. If a pad is that hard to reach in the middle of a capital city, the problem is not supply. It is access.
Shapla Wellbeing Limited is a women-led, impact-driven company from Bangladesh, and today the largest menstrual hygiene ecosystem in the country. We build the products, the education and the compliance support that let organizations look after the women and girls in their care.
At the centre of it is a network of smart vending machines dispensing essential over-the-counter products: sanitary pads, emergency medication and pain relief. They go where women already are, in offices, hospitals, educational institutions and industrial settings, so access stays continuous, affordable and private.
Around that network we help organizations meet health and hygiene standards, keep the machines stocked, and run workshops that open up honest conversations about menstruation. Because we draw on local research and development, the solutions stay cost-effective and built for Bangladesh. We also train women to manage and operate the machines themselves, turning access into income.
To ensure every person can manage their period with confidence, comfort and dignity.
Making menstrual products more accessible and affordable, right where people need them.
Providing menstrual health and hygiene education to girls, women and communities.
Normalizing conversations around menstruation and breaking the stigma that surrounds it.
Creating practical, locally engineered solutions that make menstrual health easier to manage.
Across Bangladeshi workplaces, factories and campuses, the absence of a pad at the right moment quietly costs women their health, their pay and their attendance.
of female garment workers use sanitary napkins during menstruation. 44% still use cloth.
manage their periods with fabric rags collected from factory floors, which leads to infection.
of those women are then unable to work for close to a week every month.
of Bangladeshi women suffer cervical infections linked to unhygienic menstrual practices.
Figures from a 2020 survey of garment factory workers by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) and Microfinance Opportunities (MFO), and a 2015 study on cervical infection. The pattern holds well beyond the garment sector.
Three parts of one system: the machines that dispense, the ecosystem that keeps them running, and the compliance work that makes it count.
IoT enabled machines that dispense pads, emergency medication and pain relief. They take both cash and cashless payments and connect to your systems, so impact can actually be measured. Upkeep is minimal, and partners report better morale and stronger hygiene compliance.
Talk to us for full details→
We create dialogue and period accessibility through workshops, awareness and health campaigns, events and member onboarding. We also supply the products that keep the machines stocked, so it is one supplier, less operational overhead and a lower barrier to getting started.
Workshops and stories→
A long term partnership with curated beneficiary data you can put in front of your own stakeholders, auditors and funders. Partners gain MHM compliance certification recognized internationally, and show direct, evidenced contribution to SDGs 3, 5 and 6.2.
How we align to the SDGs→Every installation takes away a reason for a woman to stop what she is doing. It removes a barrier to participation, so she can work, study and move through her day without interruption. This is where that work stands today.
We bring access where it is needed most
Comprehensive support for women's health
All essential over-the-counter goods, priced so a low-income household can actually afford them.
Programmes and investors that put their weight behind the work, and hold us to their reporting standards.
The only Bangladeshi company selected for the 2025 Asian Accelerator cohort, a twelve month programme running alongside SMEs from Cambodia and India.
A flagship programme of Young Water Solutions, co-funded by Aqua for All, giving intensive WASH training to early-stage entrepreneurs.
Long-running programme support and the impact investor behind our growth, and the team who first told our story in full.
Partnering with us gives your organization direct, evidenced contribution to three UN goals, and the curated beneficiary data to put in front of your own stakeholders, auditors and funders.
Unsanitary methods such as fabric rags cause severe health risks and cut productivity. Access to proper products and enforced hygiene standards is what closes it.
Put quality pads, pain relief and emergency medication within reach at the moment of need, and help partners hold the standard.
Huge numbers of women hold up Bangladesh's workforce, yet health compliance gaps still push them out of work for days every month.
A women-led company that keeps women in work and in class, and trains them to run the machines as an income of their own.
Target 6.2 calls for adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all. Poor facilities and no products lead straight to infection and absenteeism.
Build the full MHM ecosystem around the washroom, so hygienic menstrual management is the default rather than the exception.
What changes on the ground once a machine goes up on the wall.
Shapla Wellbeing began with a four kilometre trip across Dhaka for basic menstrual supplies, and the realization that the barrier was never supply. It was access. Today it runs the country's largest menstrual hygiene ecosystem.
Sixteen smart vending machines now sit in schools, workplaces and community hubs across Dhaka and Chattogram, used regularly by more than 6,550 women and girls. In 2024 the network dispensed 5,900 pads and generated over BDT 750,000, every taka of it reinvested into the next installation. Another 5,500 people have been reached through workshops and awareness campaigns.
The company is an entrepreneur under the Young Water Fellowship Springboard Bangladesh, a flagship programme of Young Water Solutions co-funded by Aqua for All and supported by YY Ventures, which provides intensive WASH training to early-stage founders. Alongside the machines, Shapla trains women to manage and operate them, turning access into an income.
“Girls no longer need to leave school during their periods. They feel confident staying engaged in their studies.”
“The vending machine has made handling periods at school much easier.”
A throwback to the installation of Tap-In at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, courtesy of the Civil Engineers Alumni of AUST. The day took in the inauguration of the machine, a live demo from our founder, and the well-wishers and beneficiaries who made it possible. It went into the girls’ common room, to keep it accessible and period friendly.
Our founder opening the machine up for a demo.
On Period Action Day we ran an MHM workshop on menstrual hygiene awareness and on using the Shapla pad vending machine, at BAF Shaheen School and College, Chattagram. It became our largest MHM workshop in Chittagong, with more than 400 people in the room. We like talking about the awkward things.
Awareness and initiation workshops run wherever they are needed, including classrooms a long way from Dhaka, where the conversation has often never been had.
Book a workshop→
We collaborate with institutions, organizations and individuals who share our vision for a world where no one is held back by their period. A partnership benefits female students and staff directly, by putting essential products and real education within reach.
Let's Work Together
Machines at strategic points across your campus or site, so access is easy and confidential for every female student and staff member.
Workshops and seminars on menstrual hygiene management that teach students why menstrual health matters and how to look after it.
When pads are available on site, women and girls manage their health with dignity. Attendance and performance follow.
Recognition as a forward-thinking, socially responsible institution, plus the beneficiary data to evidence it to your own stakeholders.
Tell us about your site and we will come back with machine options, a deployment plan and a tailored quotation.
Shapla Wellbeing Limited
House 176, Lane 2
Baridhara DOHS, Dhaka 1206
Machine pricing, pad pricing and full terms are shared directly with prospective partners rather than published here.
Request a proposal