For centuries, menstruation was managed with homemade solutions--until the world changed in a hurry. Patented in 1931, the first Tampax tampons were sold in 1936 as the first widely marketed internal menstrual product. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. About half of us will use them at some point in our lives. But few of us like to talk about them, at least in public.

The company, which launches officially today, is founded by Affi Parvizi-Wayne who started the company after seeing refugees stuck at European border crossings on the news and wondering how they managed their periods. As a result, a portion of every subscription of £6.99 a month to Freda goes towards worldwide initiatives tackling period poverty both in the UK and internationally. This includes, A Bloody Good Cause, a UK initiative to provide pads to refugees and the homeless, Bloody Good Period, which provides asylum seekers with better access to period care, and Killi Pads, a microenterprise in Tanzania which produces reusable cloth pads with locally sourced materials for local school girls, many of whom live in poverty, with little access to running water, hygienic facilities or basic period care. The new start-up is also eco-conscious and introduces its own range of "100% certified organic cotton" tampons and pads that are eco-friendly and biodegradable. It joins a range of subscription-based start-ups in the UK including Friction Free Shaving, Birchbox, and Hello Fresh.