Kudos on Shark Tank: What led founder Amrita Saigal to start a diaper business? Backstory explored

Shark Tank season 14 returns after its holiday break. One of the entrepreneurs set to appear on the show is Amrita Saigal, who has her own eco-friendly diaper business. While working for Always Pads, Amrita had a conversation with her grandmother about menstruation and how she dealt with it in the 1940s.

Her grandmother told her they used to use rags to manage their cycles, and while the rest of the story was unfortunate, it made the Shark Tank contestant wonder whether rags could be implemented to make diapers. She saw her friends wanting sustainable diapers, and through “innovative engineering,” she launched Kudos.

The episode featuring the entrepreneur will air on Friday, January 6, at 8 pm ET on ABC.

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Amrita pitches elegant sustainability on Shark Tank

Amrita Saigal is set to appear on Shark Tank season 14 episode 10 and pitch her elegant and sustainable diapers to the shark. When Amrita was a junior in college, she started interning as a manufacturing engineer at Always Pads, which led her to have a conversation about menstruation with her grandmother.

Her grandmother told her that in the 1940s, women would manage their monthly cycles using a rag cloth. While using a rag was certainly sustainable, it wasn’t “elegant.” So as part of her senior project at MIT, the founder created a sanitary pad made out of sustainable banana tree fiber. Her product was highly commercialized later on and helped improve the lives of thousands of Indian women.

As someone in her thirties, a lot of the Shark Tank season 14 contestant’s friends started becoming parents. They all wanted an elegantly sustainable diaper.

On the website, Amrita stated:

"I knew that through innovative engineering we could do better. Out of this realization, Kudos was born."

The upcoming Shark Tank project, Kudos, is a natural “disposable diaper” that allows infants to sit in completely clean, breathable, and soft cotton “all day.” Their team of MIT engineers and mothers ensure that Kudos protect against leaks. The products are made using sustainable, plant-based materials that are “naturally kind to diaper rash-prone skin.”

The company started selling to customers in 2021. They had plans to make the product available earlier but had to succumb to certain COVID-19 restrictions, which halted their progress since their diapers are manufactured in Germany.

One pack of Kudos diapers contains 216 units and costs around $88 per pack, which means that as part of the pack, consumers pay 41 cents per diaper. The cost can be further decreased if they purchase a monthly subscription at 36 cents per diaper.

Kudos on Shark Tank season 14 (Image via ABC/@Christopher Willard)

There are six sizes of diapers available on the website and three pattern styles. Consumers can either purchase the Shark Tank product in bundles containing diapers and wipes or just diapers. Kudos offers two bundles. Their one-month bundle box contains 200 diapers and 4 packs of wipes and costs $112, while their monthly subscription bundle contains the same products and costs 11% less at $100.

The diapers also have a wetness indicator that informs parents that it’s time to change. The indicator will turn from yellow to blue when the diaper is full.

As part of her pitch in the upcoming episode, the founder will appear wearing a garbage bag to showcase to the sharks what babies must feel when they have to sit in a plastic-based diaper all day long.

While the Kudos team consists of three members, including Amrita, Jim Keighley, and Moira Finicane, Amrita will be the only one making an appearance on Shark Tank. Tune in on Friday, January 6, at 8 pm ET on ABC to watch the latest episode.