MEET CLAIRE CODER
Claire Coder, Founder & CEO of Aunt Flow
Claire Coder is the founder and CEO of Aunt Flow, a mission-driven company providing accessible period care products in workplaces, schools, and public facilities. She's redefining what it means to build infrastructure for women's health while proving that the best opportunities don't fit neatly into boxes.
5 QUESTIONS WITH CLAIRE CODER
1. What’s the problem you saw that others underestimated, and how did it first show up in your life or work?
I started my period unexpectedly at an event when I was 18 years old, living in Columus, Ohio. As I was scrambling to find a period product, I noticed a quarter operated tampon dispenser. “Who carries quarters?” I thought to myself. I realized there were free paper towels, soap, and toilet paper - but no tampons. I thought, “If toilet paper is offered at no cost in bathrooms, why aren’t tampons and pads?”
2. Your company doesn’t fit neatly into one VC box. What category do people most often mis-label you as, and what is the truth?
The industry loves to label us as a “feminine hygiene company.” Cute - but wrong. We’re a public restroom infrastructure company. Toilet paper, soap, and period products all belong in the same category: necessities. JLL spark Aunt Flow’s Series A, signaling that our business is closest to PropTech - property technology. After all, Aunt Flow is significantly improving the built environment.
Aunt Flow is improving the built environment.
3. What’s a decision you made that hurt short-term momentum but preserved your long-term vision?
In 2020, Aunt Flow was set to launch, but the world had a different plan. By February 2020, I was fielding phone calls from our pre-order customers that they were unsure when they were going back to the office - pausing our launch indefinitely. I needed to make a decision and I made a big one. We wired nearly all of our money in our bank account to retool our pad production to make masks.
That year, we launched "Work Flow" - supporting our nation with the basic necessities most needed at the time, FDA-approved masks and supplies. For nearly 12 months, we refocused our entire business plan to meet the needs of the moment. While the short term decision initially hurt our momentum as a period care leader, it ultimately catapulted us when we were finally ready to truly launch our dispensers in 2021.
We’re a public infrastructure company.
4. Share one metric, study, or real-world data point that validated (or disproved) your original thesis.
In 2025 Aunt Flow launched our complete disposal solution. We learned that facilities were paying thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars unclogging toilets and snaking drains due to improper disposal of menstrual waste. We asked "why?”
Nearly everyone that has used the women's bathroom has seen the sign "Don't Flush Feminine Hygiene Products." So why are people still flushing? What we learned is that folks flush because they don't want to touch the nasty metal bins that are the standard in stalls across America.
Aunt Flow's complete disposal solution has cut clogged toilet costs by 90%, saving facilities money and reducing downtime. The CFOs suddenly cared about period care just as much as HR. That’s when our mission became a business no-brainer.
CFOs suddenly cared about period care just as much as HR.
5. What’s one shift in your market that’s not getting enough attention, but will definte the next 5 years?
The next five years won’t be about selling tampons—it’ll be about infrastructure for equity. Bathrooms will evolve like Wi-Fi did: once optional, now expected. Aunt Flow will be the router.
BONUS
What’s one piece of advice you wish investors understood about building in your category?
Periods aren’t a “niche.” Half the population bleeds, and the other half benefits when we handle it better. Aunt Flow isn’t a tampon company. It’s a public health infrastructure solution operating in a $2 billion market.
