LilyLoop, a team focused on using technology developed by Penn researchers to address menstruation, won the 13th annual innovation competition Y-Prize (Photo from Penn Today).
LilyLoop, a team of first-year students who proposed a line of “smart” period products, won $10,000 in the 2024 Y-Prize competition to realize their business idea.
The annual Y-Prize competition invites student teams to pitch commercial applications for technologies invented by Penn researchers. This year, the winning team developed a product that uses biodegradable moisture sensors to record menstrual flow data and alert users to change their period products.
LilyLoop is composed of College and Wharton first-years Rima Chavali and Neha Chelamkuri — who are both in the Vagelos Life Sciences & Management program — and Wharton and Engineering first-year Kylie Chang, who is in the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology.
Chavali and Chelamkuri said that they first met Chang at the info session for the Y-Prize competition, where they quickly formed a team and decided on a proposal. The inspiration for a menstrual product originated partly from Chelamkuri’s previous work to advance women’s health equity legislation in Texas.
Chavali also highlighted the team's shared experiences with women in business leadership roles.
"Being female founders is something that resonated with all of us and our experiences growing up," Chavali said.
The product implements a tiny biodegradable sensor that records and sends moisture readings to the user. According to Chang, the product consists of three components: a smart tampon or pad that takes regular moisture readings, a bracelet that vibrates with reminders to change the menstrual product, and an app that logs cycle flow based on the readings.
The line aims to function as both a management tool for individuals with periods and a diagnostic tool for physicians to track patients' menstrual history. Chavali said that when patients visit the doctor for a check-up, the data they provide on their cycle is often subjective or based on imperfect recall, in contrast to the precision provided by the team's product.
"If you don't have to guess or fill in times, the doctor can adequately diagnose you or send you to a gynecologist, creating more proactive treatments and helping you manage your period better," she said.
After winning the Y-Prize competition, the team is continuing its collaboration with the Turner Research Group — which developed the biodegradable sensor technology — to create a commercially viable product. The goal is to eventually receive FDA approval for the product to improve menstrual health care for a wider population.
Reflecting on what they learned from the competition process, the LilyLoop members highlighted both professional and personal benefits.
Chang said that cold-emailing potential people who could support their project made her realize how strong Penn's network is.
"There are so many resources and people, like pediatricians and program directors, who are willing to help us," Chang said. "A lot of them are really, really helpful and interested in taking our product to the next step. So that gave me a lot of faith."
Chelamkuri said that the competition encouraged her to learn the financial basics of creating a startup.
"It was daunting to think about all the knowledge gaps we had up against teams of juniors, seniors, MBAs, and graduate students," she said. "But I think it helped us be proactive and pursue what we wanted to know."
Chavali added that the existence of more experienced students in the startup field should not automatically prevent entrants from pursuing their business ideas.
“I think it's easy to believe that you're too young to do something,” Chavali said. “But really being willing to ask questions to seek help, just being curious, took us so so far in such a short amount of time, so that's something we're gonna keep doing.”
The Y-Prize competition is sponsored by the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Mack Institute for Innovation Management, Penn Venture Lab, and Penn Center for Innovation. The other 2024 finalists included Reap — a robot to increase efficient harvests by selecting ripe peaches — and IntelliWound, a moisture sensor for wound dressings to allow for faster, high-quality care. The third finalist team proposed an artificial intelligence-enabled irrigation system.
Dean of Penn Engineering Vijay Kumar established the competition in 2012 to generate more innovative commercial applications for existing Penn technologies. The competition inverts the structure of the more traditional X Prize competitions, where contestants are tasked with solving real-world problems by developing their own novel technologies.
Previous winners improved pulse oximetry for patients with darker skin, found new ways to brew beer, and developed a catheter that prevents bacterial infections.
LilyLoop members encouraged potential entrants next year to use a creative mindset, noting that the sensors used in the menstrual products were originally intended for irrigation. Chavali said that she approached Y-Prize less as a competition than as an opportunity to think of a new idea.
"We went into the experience thinking, what if we take a chance on these two strangers, come up with an idea, and see what happens," she said. "I think just taking that chance, taking that step with blind faith, gives you a lot of room to grow."
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