Comma started by reimagining the tampon
Comma's roots trace back to western Kenya, where early research into HIV prevention and gender-based violence surfaced an uncomfortable truth: girls were dropping out of school simply because they didn't have period products that worked for their communities.
That observation sparked an idea—a compostable tampon that could reinvest in the communities that needed it most. But the closer we looked, the bigger the problem became. Period care wasn't broken in one place. It was broken everywhere.
Products weren't sustainable. Science was ignored. And the people who menstruate had almost no agency over their own data or their own healthcare information.
That realization sparked the initiative behind Comma.
When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the stakes of data privacy became impossible to ignore. Comma built Sara™ in response: a secure, privacy-first period app grounded in one belief. Your cycle. Your body. Your data. Your decision.
Today, Sara is more than a tracker. She's a diagnostic tool, helping connect menstruators to care faster, more safely, and on their own terms.
Every company has a list of values. Ours existed long before we put them into words.
They're what drew this team together, what shaped Comma from the beginning, and what continues to guide how we build. They influence every decision we make because they're more than principles; they're the beliefs each of us brings to work every day.
AGENCY
It’s your cycle. It’s your body. It’s your data. It’s your decision.
Comma was built on the belief that everyone should have agency and autonomy over their reproductive health. From our privacy and security protocols to our impact work, your right to your own healthcare is foundational to everything we do.
SECURITY
We aren’t for sale, and neither are you.
Period data should have always been protected as healthcare information. It should always be kept private and safeguarded with the highest level of confidentiality and protection. It’s more important than ever to keep your information safe. Together, we can transform this space so security is at the center.
SUSTAINABILITY
Better for you. Better for what's next.
Nobody should have to choose between forever plastics and clunky, understudied reusables. So we're building products designed to break down in weeks, not centuries, and we're not done improving on them.
SCIENCE
Your period can tell you more than you think.
Whether it be premenstrual symptoms, the severity of PCOS pain, or biomarkers in period blood, menstruation has been stigmatized, ignored, and neglected in clinical science.
51% of the world has a period—the process that allows the human race to reproduce—and most of us experience it for decades of our life. It’s high time for safe and ethical study of how periods can reflect and predict our health. We imagine a future in which you and your doctor can understand your risk for disease and health problems by better understanding your menstruation. Together, we can bring menstruation into science and healthcare.
CO-CREATION AND COMMUNITY
We have big dreams and exciting plans—but none of it is possible without you.
Community is more than a buzzword at Comma: it’s our backbone. The period care industry has been designed without women in mind or at the helm. We want to build what you want to see, and we want to improve what you want to change. A period shouldn’t be a hard stop; Comma disrupts the narrative in menstrual health. We’re so glad you’re doing this with us.
Learn more about how Comma is engineering a better world.
Co-Creation for Innovation
Social and Reproductive Justice
Sustainability