Our Story

Meet the founder

    Ira was inspired to start Asan after interacting with a domestic worker in her local community who was forced to miss work during periods.

    Ira designed and patented the Asan menstrual cup while she was a graduate student at Harvard.

    For her work at Asan, Ira has been awarded the Cartier Women’s Initiative Fellowship, the Innovate UK Unlocking Potential Award, the King’s College Cambridge Entrepreneurship Prize, and the Harvard Warner Fellowship.

    Our advisors

    • Connie Mao

      Connie is an Obstetrician Gynaecologist and Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington. She trains providers internationally and invests in improving the health of women and girls.

    • Narayan Ramachandran

      Narayan is the father of two girls, husband of a writer, columnist, institution builder and emerging market investor. 

    • Deborah Palmer Keiser

      Deborah is a seasoned retail executive known for her pioneering work on supply chain stewardship for iconic brands. For 25+ years, she has held senior strategic and operational roles directing business development globally.

    • Benjamin Kahrl

      Ben combines investment and philanthropy to expand access to sexual and reproductive healthcare for women, girls, youth, and people with disabilities.

    • Jill Ross

      Jill is a Managing Director at Accenture, and has more than 25 years of retail and consumer experience. She is an advocate for women’s health equity and an angel investor in fem-tech startups.

    • Ranjini Narayan

      Ranjini Narayan is a software engineer, and is pursuing an MBA degree at the Columbia Business School. She is very passionate about empowering women in STEM. 

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    Meet the team

      Asan is a women-led business with a passionate and driven team dedicated to eradicating period poverty. What brings our team together is a shared dream of a world in which no woman or girl is ever held back because of her period.