60. Asan Cup Solving period poverty worldwide, as well as the environmental impact of menstrual products, is a big undertaking but Asan Cup is making huge headway. Written by Helena Young Sponsored by Sage Published on January 12, 2026 About the Startups 100 Now in its 18th year, the Startups 100 is the definitive list of the most promising new UK businesses. There's no fee for entry or for inclusion in our index. The Startups team of new business experts judge all our top 100 entrants in collaboration with specialist industry consultants. See our guide to this year’s hottest new businesses and most exceptional founders in the complete 2026 Startups 100 index. Founder: Ira GuhaYear founded: 2020Website: asancup.comIra Guha has achieved incredible things since launching the Asan Cup, a menstrual cup which is making huge inroads into ending period poverty worldwide. The issue sees women and girls who cannot afford period products, such as pads and tampons, forced to rely on unhygienic methods (such as old rags). This not only puts them at risk of infection but also forces them to miss school and work, impacting them – and wider society – economically.Also featuring in last year’s Startups 100, we have watched as Asan Cup has tripled its revenue. But Guha is most proud of the fact that 70% of cups sold in the past year reached women and girls from underserved communities.“These include 30,000 cups distributed to farming communities in rural South India, and over 8,000 cups distributed by nonprofit partners in Malawi and Zanzibar,” she says.Key to the product’s success has been encouraging behaviour change, not least because traditional menstrual products are 90% plastic and this is having a catastrophic impact on the environment. In contrast, the Asan Cup is plastic-free and can be re-used for 10 years.“Behaviour change is made even more challenging due to the strong taboos around periods, which are not openly discussed in many regions where Asan operates,” says Guha. Instead, the East of England-based founder has deployed a peer-to-peer education model. She explains, “when we try to convince UK university students to adopt Asan Cups, we work with local student groups and student TikTok creators.“Similarly, when we sell wholesale to a textile factory in India, we get the female line managers, local nurses and health workers to try the cups first, and then educate others.”Asan now has educational resources in 14 languages and has seen a 90% adoption rate of the cups among women who receive them. Guha plans to reach two million low-income women by 2030, and prevent five billion plastic pads and tampons from ending up in landfills. It’s a mission statement with both compassion and innovation at its core.View the full Startups 100 Index for 20261. Omnea2. HIVED3. MAGIC AI4. OXCCU5. Lightyear6. Neuranics 7. Hormona8. Burbank9. Better Dairy 10. Lenkie Technologies11. Userled12. Hoxton Farms13. Rensair14. PulpaTronics15. TradeKart16. 32Co17. Carmoola18. cheqd19. Sightline Analytics20. Adamo Foods21. Bold Bean Co22. Beams Renovation 23. Pan Galactic24. Capi Money25. Spotted Zebra26. ANTHROTEK 27. Unravel28. Perci Health29. Untap Health30. Hair Syrup31. Connect Earth 32. spacebands 33. Unfabled34. Lightning Reach35. STOCKED36. Embeddable37. XR Therapeutics38. Literal Labs39. Scooch40. Openr41. Fibe Limited42. Inicio AI43. Peachies44. Better Nature 45. Ctrl Alt46. Resting Reef47. Nila48. ROXFIT49. Finmile50. NavLive51. Volunteero52. Inntelo AI53. Zonova54. A&B Smart Materials55. Ethicronics56. Treeapp57. kennek58. Soil Benchmark59. Vox Aeris60. Asan Cup61. Nuuri62. Mindstone63. MYNDUP64. Enbiosis Biotechnology65. JUX Food66. Danu Robotics67. Wylde Market68. Air Aware Labs69. Mimicrete Ltd70. ALYVE71. Happl72. Living Things73. Grub Club Pets74. Mealia75. PetProov76. Lylo Products77. Chest78. ZIM Connections79. Uptime Labs80. Teal81. Zero Fintech82. Micro Thermal Energy 83. Kanjo 84. Merlin Cloud85. My Skin Feels86. Eleria87. Cashblack88. RevvedUp89. Cosysense90. SuperFi91. Loom92. Legacy Compass93. Meshed94. SWURF95. Main Squeeze96. Sampl Technologies97. Over the Moo98. Pioneering People99. Bikebook100. Recondition Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Tags 2026 Written by: Helena Young Deputy Editor Helena is Deputy Editor at Startups. She oversees all news and supporting content on Startups, and is also the author of the weekly Startups email newsletter, delivering must-know SME updates straight to their inbox. From interviewing Wetherspoon's boss Tim Martin to spotting data-led working from home trends, her insight has been featured by major trade publications including the ICAEW, and news outlets like the BBC, ITV News, Daily Express, and HuffPost UK. With a background in PR and marketing, Helena is particularly passionate about giving early-stage startups a platform to boost their brands. That's one reason she manages the Startups 100 Index, our annual ranking of new UK businesses. Sponsored by: Sage Startups 100 Index Sponsor 2026 Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.