we were tasked to solve a real world problem. in our breaks, we'd have to choose between going to the loo or getting food, because accused of the women's were just astronomically long and it was unfair. So yeah, first prototypes were probably cardboard and then we moved onto wood and then metal structures But a mentor of us said, you just have to get out there.
So we did. Peequal is the UK's the squat and go women's urinal. We exist to get women out of those cross legged queues and back to the event they paid for.
So Hazel and I met at Bristol University. And we'd worked together on quite a few projects before our fourth year Masters course. But in this fourth year, we were tasked to solve a real world problem.
So hazel and I over our summers had chosen to work at festivals And in our breaks, we'd have to choose between going to the loo or getting food, because accused of the women's were just astronomically long and it was unfair. And so we came back and we thought, surely there is a better way to do this. And that's what we set about researching and we were like, there's just nothing out there.
There's just this is actually a serious problem. Like I feel a bit outraged. It's like someone needs to do something.
And so we thought, why not us? So yeah, first prototypes were probably cardboard and then we moved onto wood and then metal structures that were not the right dimensions that we hoped for, but we took that to our first. It was a Covid safe event where I think it was a Bristol comedy garden and the prototype was it was colorful, but it was still made of scrap metal and wood and not quite the right size.
But a mentor of us said, you just have to get out there. So we did. So before our first ever investment raise, we didn't have any kind of prototype.
So we didn't have anything to scale. So that was our first key interaction with CAD was that, we were able to pitch to investors with these CAD models on our PowerPoint deck. And that was super important because without that, they can visualize what a women's urinal look like.
No one really can until you show them a video. Will you try and explain it really well with descriptive language? But that was a huge moment.
That meant people sort of catapulted forwards and meant that they could really visualize it in a festival environment or in a green space, and it was just a fantastic way of communicating something brand new to someone that would invest their money. And that led to us raising 250,000 pounds in Covid. So yeah, it was fantastic.
So one of the best things is the assembly modeling. pickle's flat pack. So we need to map how it works on haulage, on trailers, how it's distributed across site, how it will be put in different locations.
So we really need to model different loads of different ways our design can be set up and distributed. It's yeah, that has been revolutionary. And especially when we're talking to our customers before having the product ready, we've been able to show them so much.
So they've been able to invest in us again. We've just the CAD designs. The rendering is also been fantastic too.
having just CAD models in a PowerPoint deck and getting 250 K. In Covid sort of says it all. It sort of shows that if we can present something that's really professional looking and really adaptable, when it can sort of showcase how something can work, how it can be fitted together and the engineering drawings off the back of that is just incredible access.
And having those kind of skills that we can pull on when we need them it just takes us to a whole new level. So as mentioned, SolidWorks did help us raise that first investment round, which enabled us to manufacture our product to scale really professionally done. And that then knocked on to us going to Glastonbury in 2022 and launching there.
And that was a fantastic success. We were two different locations and we're now at 10 or 12 different locations. So that just shows how much that design has impact, just one customer's engagement with people.
So really excitingly, we are going to be launching our new version of peequal next year. And so during last year and this year, we've been developing the design on SOLIDWORKS And this has meant that we feel really confident in releasing this product out internationally and be able supply this facility to millions more women. And so yeah, it will enable mass scale up.
It's not to be underestimated the power of that. And I think we're really excited to see how this product can change women's lives.
