Aruna Revolution Health, a Halifax startup developing biodegradable menstrual pads, won $3,000 at a “pop-up” pitch competition hosted Tuesday in Halifax by industry group Startup Canada.

Co-founder Rashmi Prakash, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Biomedical Engineering, launched the company in 2020 with fellow UBC graduate Lanna Last.

In addition to the $3,000, Prakash’s pitch at Pier 21 has won her a chance to compete for a $70,000 grand prize in Brampton, Ont. on Oct. 26 against winners from the Startup Canada tour’s other stops, as well as from an online iteration of the competition. The Halifax event was part of a national series of one-day conferences the group is organizing in five cities across Canada.

Startup Canada is a non-profit created in 2012 to foster entrepreneurship via a recurring cross-country tour.

“The (menstrual) products on the market don't meet our needs,” Prakash told an audience of conference-goers. “They contain harmful chemicals that are known to cause cancer, and they last on this planet for over 500 years. This is a problem that affects 50% of the world's population, so we decided that it was time for a revolution.

“My company, Aruna, is revolutionizing the way we manage our menstrual health by creating compostable menstrual pads that are made of natural fibres using local food and crop waste.”

Aruna beat out two other finalists for the win: Chameleon Shoes, founded by New Brunswick physician Dr. Maryse Taderos, and Dalhousie University research Rafaela Andrade with her life sciences company, Myomar Molecular.

Chameleon Shoes is inspired by Dr. Taderos’s own experiences raising children and being frustrated with the inconvenience and cost of supplying them with new shoes often enough to keep up with their growing feet.

Her solution is to sell pairs six at a time in successively larger sizes, with a hangable storage bag, minimizing shopping trips. Dr. Taderos describes her shoes as better quality and slightly pricier than the ultra-affordable kids shoes sold at many big box retailers, but cheaper than the pricey pairs on offer at dedicated shoe stores.

“I thought, ‘There’s got to be a better way to do this shoe thing for kids,’” she said. “‘I know they’re going to need all the sizes, so why don’t I just get a kit with all the sizes, and that way I won’t have to go shopping every time they outgrow a pair?’

“That kind of kit didn’t exist, so I created one.”

Andrade’s Myomar, meanwhile is developing a urine test to monitor muscle degeneration, which can be caused by diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

Molecular biology PhD Rafaela Andrade founded the company in 2021 and is in the process of conducting clinical trials. The company recently raised $200,000 from convertible notes, and Andrade said in a February interview that she is considering a crowdfunding campaign later this year.

“We are developing tests … that people can take at home, and the test will monitor the muscle degeneration process,” she said. “Our tests will work pretty much like a glucose component test, where people with diabetes come home and they measure their glucose and they manage their day to day activities and their diet to keep their glucose levels low.

“With these muscle tests, you will be able to do that for neuromuscular diseases and the aging process, as well.”