Today Attn: Grace, a subscription-based, sustainable wellness brand for women as they age, announced the launch of a new, strategic collaboration with AARP Innovation Labs and an additional round of $900,000 in pre-seed funding. Tusk Venture Partners led the round, joined by existing investor, Precursor Ventures, and new investors Joyance Partners and Social Starts. This brings Attn: Grace’s total funding to $2 million within five months of launch.
The company was co-founded by Mia Abbruzzese and Alexandra Fennell in June 2020 to destigmatize female aging and bring innovation to the $9.5 billion market for disposable incontinence products, by offering discreet, convenient, subscription-based bladder leakage products. The company launched a collection of sustainably sourced and designed liners, pads and briefs to a 10,000 person waiting list this summer. This additional funding will enable Attn: Grace to meet high demand, expand its product offering, scale the business and build its growing team.
“We were excited to invest in Attn: Grace because of Mia and Alex’s unique focus on creating more sustainably designed wellness products and a more dignified brand for older women, a group of people too often overlooked by startups,” said Jordan Nof, managing partner at Tusk Venture Partners. “Starting with unique incontinence products that are sustainable and thoughtfully designed, we believe Attn: Grace will go beyond this market to help with all types of aging needs.”
Social Starts/Joyance Partners Investment Partner Holly Jacobus adds “We’re proud to add Attn: Grace to our Health and Happiness community and support their mission to reinvent the way the world views incontinence. We see a huge opportunity in this market and their experienced team is extremely well-positioned for success.”
In addition to their new funding, the company also announced a strategic collaboration with AARP Innovation Labs, an innovation accelerator that works with start-ups and investors to discover and scale big ideas that change how aging people live. AARP Innovation Labs brings invaluable expertise in the 50+ demographic, and will work with Attn: Grace to amplify the reach of the brand’s offering and message.
Despite people age 55 and over accounting for 50% of the total U.S. health care spend in 2016, Attn: Grace is one of the only brand’s focusing on a category of women often overlooked by investors and startups. Attn: Grace attracted early enthusiasm for the brand by offering discreet, convenient products that are more absorbent than the incumbent brands and thoughtfully tailored to women’s changing needs.
“When we first started meeting with investors, they either shifted uncomfortably in their seats or just tuned out entirely when we opened with urinary incontinence,” said co-founder and co-CEO Alexandra Fennell. “But the reality is that millions of Americans experience urinary incontinence regularly and are left with too little options and too much shame. Not only is there an incredible need and opportunity for a marketplace of better products, we are also on a mission to recognize and celebrate aging. It’s been incredible to see how enthusiastically women have responded not just to our products, but also the brand and our mission in such a short period of time,” she continued.
Prior to launch, Attn: Grace co-founders Mia Abbruzzese and Alexandra Fennell spent two years working to secure the necessary funding to bring the brand to life. At the time, even with the increased openness and awareness surrounding maternal and reproductive health, many investors had yet to fully realize the opportunity in creating thoughtfully and more sustainably designed bladder leakage products to a population of “aging women.” The company’s signature CLN Design™ provides superior absorbency through plant-based 100% breathable materials, and eliminates excess materials, fillers and unnecessary harsh chemicals, making Attn: Grace the purest protection for women’s most sensitive skin.
