Kudos on 'Shark Tank': What is the cost, who is the founder, and all about the eco-friendly disposable diapers
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: When it comes to baby stuff, a diaper is a non-negotiable necessity. When you think of diapers, Huggies or Pampers, maybe the first things to come to your mind. While these disposable diapers are pretty convenient and easy to use, the plastic in them is not only harmful to your baby's sensitive bottom (looking at you diaper rashes) but also harmful to the environment. According to studies, over 18 billion disposable diapers are in landfills yearly! While reusable cloth diapers are a sustainable solution, the cleaning and maintenance process of these cloth diapers can be a huge turn-off for many parents. And not to mention, these cloth diapers lack "elegant sustainability". After noticing this glaring gap in the market, MIT graduate Amrita Saigal decided to launch her environmental-friendly disposable diaper brand called Kudos.
With Kudos, you can enjoy the convenience and ease of using a disposable diaper, while also benefitting from the sustainability aspects of using a cloth diaper. Saigal will be pitching for her unique innovation on the upcoming episode 10 of 'Shark Tank' Season 14, before Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, and guest Shark Gwyneth Paltrow. While we will have to wait and watch to see if any of the Sharks close a deal with Kudos, in the meanwhile, you can learn all about this unique brand here.
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What is Kudos?
Kudos is the first disposable diaper where baby’s bum touches 100% doctor-recommended cotton all day. Not plastic. Cotton is naturally soft, sustainable, hypoallergenic and the #1 doctor-recommended material for rash and eczema. Plastic is fossil-fuel-derived and can be absorbed into the skin and disrupt the reproductive and endocrine systems. With Kudos diapers you can be assured of:
Way more sleep: For you. For baby. Kudos' patent-pending DoubleDry™ tech is engineered to keep onesies dry with two protective layers instead of one. Zzz.
Happier Butts: Kudos are the only disposables lined with 100% cotton. The #1 doctor-recommended material for rash and eczema. Cotton's soft, natural fibers let butts breathe (so you can, too).
Fits your schedule: No more doubts about running out! Set Kudos to automatically show up at your door. Resize, skip, or cancel your subscription at any time.
Who is the founder of Kudos?
Amrita Saigal is the founder of Kudos. Amrita’s first company out of MIT turned banana leaves into sanitary pads that helped schoolgirls in India get ahead. On the bran's website, she explained her inspiration behind creating Kudos. "I am obsessed with elegant sustainability. What do I mean by that? A product can be sustainable, but it is unlikely to be impactful unless it has elegance in the eyes of the beholder. Elegance involves both style and simplicity." "Sustainable products should not compromise on style - in fact, they should out-style their non-sustainable counterparts (think Tesla, not Prius). Sustainable products need to be just as simple to use as their non-sustainable counterparts - we can’t just replace plastic diapers with cloth diapers, creating more labor and effort for the consumer," she added.
Amrita's journey into the pads and diapers world, began during a conversation with her grandmother. She recounts, "When I was a Junior in college, I landed an internship working as a manufacturing engineer for Always Pads. I had a conversation with my Grandma that I hadn’t had until then - what did she do during her periods growing up in India during the 1940s? Turns out she used old rags, had to sleep outside the house while on her period, and was not allowed to go to school. Woah. I remember feeling shocked, believing that this was something purely historical - but no, many women in India are still experiencing this today."
"The method of using rags was certainly sustainable, but it clearly was not elegantly sustainable. It didn’t enable women to go about their lives as they would on any day they weren't having their period. For my senior project as an undergrad at MIT, I developed a sanitary pad made of sustainable banana tree fiber, one which had all the function of a sanitary pad you could pick up at CVS, but that was sustainable. This was successfully commercialized after I graduated, improving the lives of thousands of women in India," she shares.
"As I entered my thirties, many of my friends started having kids, and they wanted a diaper that followed the principles of elegant sustainability: a diaper that was as convenient and reliable to use as the industry standard disposable diaper, but that was as sustainable as a cloth diaper. I knew that through innovative engineering we could do better. Out of this realization, Kudos was born," she explains.
What is the cost and where to buy Kudos from?
You can get your very own Kudos monthly box from the brand's website for $88. Each monthly box comprises 216 diapers, so the cost of each diapers comes up to $0.41/diaper. But if you decide to opt for a monthly subscription, then you can get the box for $78, which rounds up the cost of each diaper to $0.36. You can get Kudos diapers from the brand's website here.
The brand's diapers have received several rave reviews from its loyal customer base. A customer left the following review on the brand's website, "My little girl has such sensitive skin and is prone to diaper rash, so we have tried almost every commercially available diaper on the market, and I can say that Kudos is our favorite! They are gentle on her skin, very absorbent (they actually pull the moisture away from her skin), and we have yet to have a blowout!"
Where is Kudos now?
Back in June 2022, Kudos announced on their Instagram that they would soon be launching baby wipes. "📢Coming soon! Ever wonder how baby wipes are made? Take a look at the behind-the-scenes footage of our latest wipes run. For the past year, we have been hard at work making the best possible wipes for you, baby, and the planet — and we are so excited to finally be in production. While they aren't available quite yet, we'll let you know as soon as they are! A sneak peek at what you can expect:
100% biodegradable and compostable
Made from 100% sustainably-harvested trees
Soft and gentle on baby's sensitive skin."
The brand launched the wipes in August 2022, and they became an instant hit among customers. "These wipes are insane! They’re so gentle on my baby’s bottom, and they do a fantastic job cleaning up disaster diapers. Kudos wipes are by far the best on the market," shared a customer on the brand's website.
Who will steal the deal?
Guest Shark Gwyneth Paltrow or Kevin O'Leary might steal the deal. Although the brand's sales numbers and profit margins will ultimately be the major deciding factor for the sharks on whether to invest in the business or not. So, we will just have to wait and watch to see if the Sharks even make a deal.
'Shark Tank' Season 14 Episode 10 airs on ABC on Friday, January 6, 2023, at 8 pm ET. Catch the latest episode featuring products like Jicafoods, VoChill, Kudos, and Long Table.
Missed an episode? Been wanting to catch up? Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Not just that, you can also watch old seasons and episodes on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.