The Bristol startup pioneering ‘pee-equality’ for women

An entrepreneurial duo on a mission to pioneer ‘pee-equality’ have invented the UK’s first urinal designed specifically for women.

Amber Probyn and Hazel McShane, the founders of PEEQUAL, clinched the top prize at this year’s University of Bristol New Enterprise Competition, securing £15,000 to develop their product.

The pair, who graduated in 2020, say the funds will enable them to follow their dreams and get their urinals out to events where they hope to tackle the problem of long queues for women’s toilets.

The UK’s first touch-free women’s urinal is said to be six times quicker to use than conventional portable lockable toilets. It is also made from 100 per cent recyclable materials, comes in flat pack for ease of transportation and set up in different spaces and produces 98 per cent less CO2 than portable toilets.

The founders of PEEQUAL are pioneering ‘pee-equality’ – photo courtesy of Bristol University

The New Enterprise Competition is the University of Bristol’s flagship startup competition, run by the Basecamp Enterprise team. Previous winners include Ultraleap, a world leading hand tracking and haptics technology company, and Kaedim, an AI company whose software creates 3D assets for games and films in seconds.

Talking about the award, Probyn said:  “We feel massively encouraged and honoured to receive the award for the New Enterprise Competition, it means we can get our PEEQUAL urinals out to events as soon as possible.

“Thank you, Basecamp, for becoming part of our extended team, your support has come at such a pivotal point.”

McShane added: “Winning the New Enterprise Competition has given us the funding and recognition to follow our dream for pee-equality. We are now so excited to get our PEEQUAL urinals out there to free the pee.”

Of the 21 businesses competing this year, two other student-led startups were awarded runners-up:

Bottle Farm won £5,000 for a kit that turns any plastic bottle into an indoor farm.

Senmag Robotics won a 12-month membership to tech incubator SETsquared Bristol and pro-bono legal support from sponsors VWV. Senmag Robotics combine ultra-precise motion tracking with high-fidelity 3D force feedback to allow a user to move around a virtual 3D environment and physically interact with objects within it.

Professor Phillip Taylor, pro vice-chancellor for research and enterprise at the University of Bristol said the New Enterprise Competition acts as a support programme, with mentors and partners such as SETsquared on hand to provide tailored business advice.

He continued: “The competition continues to be a catalyst for innovations ranging from deep tech, healthcare, wellbeing, sustainability and creative arts. Thank you to our mentors, partners and sponsors and the Basecamp Enterprise team for supporting students and graduates on their journey to create value for themselves, the city and society.”

Monika Radclyffe, centre director at SETsquared  Bristol, added: “The New Enterprise Competition is a great example of how innovation is spotted, celebrated and supported by the University of Bristol.

“SETsquared Bristol is proud to be involved with mentoring and judging this talent and welcoming Senmag Robotics to our incubation programme to support them on the next commercial stage of their entrepreneurial journey.”

Main photo of Hazel McShane and Amber Probyn – photo courtesy of Bristol University

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