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With a line of products that range from barrier creams and body oils to incontinence-care solutions, AgeTech Collaborative™ startup participant Attn:Grace is on a mission to create a world that celebrates women and their changing needs as they age. 

Recently, we sat down with Attn:Grace co-founder Alex Fennell to learn more about the company and their passion for raising awareness of women's health issues.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. 

What’s the story behind Attn:Grace? 

The origin story goes back to my co-founder, Mia Abbruzzese, who is also my wife. She was visiting her mom, who was 89 years old and living a sophisticated and fully independent life. Mia saw her mom coming out of the bathroom, stuffing a big, grey incontinence brief into a flimsy little plastic bag, and Mia was struck by how undignified that process was — disposing of the product like that. 

Mia and I have kids, and at that time we were in the thick of getting diaper deliveries from a company that provides curated, very thoughtful diapers, wipes and other baby supplies, and a little entrepreneurial light bulb went off for Mia — who had previously founded a company. She said, “This is what my mom needs,” meaning better incontinence products than were currently available. 

What were your next steps? 

We dug into the space and quickly learned that although incontinence does impact men, about 77% of the population that experiences incontinence are women. I was practicing law at the time, so I put my lawyer hat on and began looking at IP in the space, and we realized there hadn’t yet been the disruption in the space in the same way that there had been in the baby care space or period care space.  

So we knew there was a real opportunity to design a cleaner, more sustainable solution. We’re proud that at every point possible in the sourcing and manufacturing process, we substitute high-performance, plant-based components for what are typically petroleum-based components in conventional products. And I’m happy to say that our products are cleaner, greener and use less plastic. 

Can you say more about what sets Attn:Grace apart in particular?  

The biggest thing that sets our product apart is the construction of our top sheet, which is the top layer that sits against your skin. This is crucial, because if you have moderate to severe incontinence, you’re wearing these products 24/7, and that layer of the product is sitting next to your skin all the time. In conventional products, that’s made from petroleum-based polyethylene, which causes skin irritation for many women, and that can sometimes be severe. With our top sheets, the only materials that come into contact with your skin are plant-based; it’s still a synthetic, so it wicks moisture away, but it doesn’t irritate your skin. 

Since we’ve launched, we keep hearing over and again from women, “I’ve tried every other product out there, and this is the first one that’s not causing me irritation.” For us, what’s been the most exciting thing about what we’re doing is improving women’s everyday quality of life like that, which is powerful. 

You have other products, too, correct? 

Our core focus is incontinence, but we have a barrier cream that we developed for use with our incontinence products to help maintain skin integrity, but we hear from women that they use it in all kinds of different capacities. We also have body oil and deodorants. 

Another part of what we’re trying to do with our products is to slowly change the dynamic around talking about incontinence, because it’s an incredibly stigmatized condition. We want women to feel empowered to have that conversation with their friends, and especially with their doctor, because incontinence can often be treated, or at least mitigated. 

This is not your partner’s first experience with a startup. Have you encountered any obstacles that you didn’t expect? 

We were both shocked by how difficult it was to raise venture capital. One reason is that this is not a “sexy” problem we’re solving for; and it’s predominantly a women’s health issue and, historically, women’s health has been very underfunded. 

Also, the venture capital market wasn't focused on the AgeTech space back when we were starting. We would go out and pitch to venture funds and angel groups, and we would get these blank stares. It didn't matter that the total addressable market is massive. At this point, we’ve raised several rounds of institutional capital, but none of them have been easy. Even though we have a clear market fit and really strong traction, it’s still really challenging. 

How have you overcome all that resistance? 

We just keep going. There is so much trust involved with these products, right? Like, these products just cannot fail. The fact that women are willing to try these kinds of products from a completely new brand speaks to how underserved the market is with the current options. So we just keep going, because we have a strong belief that there is a clear need for what we’re offering. 

What advice would you have for a founder just getting started with their first startup? 

You can't underestimate the importance of building a strong network, especially in the beginning. Coming from the world of being a lawyer, I didn't understand that; as a lawyer, you're not taught or encouraged to network. 

Thankfully, when we started out on this process, Mia knew enough to say, “We have to talk to as many people as we can.” And she was totally right. Because even if people can't be immediately or directly helpful to you, nine times out of 10 they'll say, "I can't help you, but I know this or that person who I can connect you with.” In time, that starts to build upon itself in a really nice way. And we would never have gotten where we are today if we hadn't spent the time doing that. 

You can learn more about Attn:Grace at their website. 

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