Women’s urinal startup raises £1m for worldwide expansion

Women’s urinals will soon be at events in Europe, the US and Australia after a British startup raised nearly £1 million.

The expansion of Peequal was sparked by demand from events companies around the world.

The investment at the Bristol-based start-up will be used to manufacture the next-generation urinals, which can be flatpacked and exported around the world.

The new design includes several patent-pending updates and their stackable shape means nearly three times as many can fit on lorries compared to portable toilets, cutting road congestion and events’ carbon footprints.

PEEQUAL co-founder Amber Probyn with some of her toilets (PEEQUAL/PA)

The queue-slashing urinals are 2.7x faster to use than portable toilets and have been at 25 events already this year, including Glastonbury and the London Marathon.

Co-founders Amber Probyn, 27, and Hazel McShane, 29, estimate their urinals have been used 1.25 million times since their first event in 2022.

Users have described them as “amazing”, “innovative” and “game-changing”.

Ms McShane said: “We’ve heard from events and toilet suppliers around the world keen to use our women’s urinals.

“Like us, they want women spending less time in queues and more time enjoying the events they love.

“This funding means we can export this British innovation and give the gift of shorter queues to women across the world.”

The new design allows the urinals to be flatpacked and stacked.

The founders estimate that 56 urinals can fit on each lorry, compared to around 21 for traditional portable toilets.

Feedback from women sparked other engineering improvements, such as flippable occupied signs and an improved splashback.

Ready for the 2026 season, they will also be easier to drain and move around event sites.

Ms Probyn said Peequal would work with events, festivals and toilet suppliers overseas to reduce queuing time.

She added: “We knew women would welcome any innovation that meant they didn’t have to queue for hours.

“What we didn’t expect was how much love the urinals would receive, and we’ve been blown away by the support women give us at events.

“We are really proud to be a female-led startup and we are honoured that so many amazing female investors have chosen to back us.”

This time the Peequal founders have raised £925,000 to bring the total raised during three funding rounds to £1.4 million.

This third and most recent round was mostly funded by successful businesswomen with a passion for equality and an eye for success stories.

Julie Davies, impact investor at We Have The Power, said: “It’s always satisfying to invest in a service you’ve used and admired.

“I first came across Peequal when running the London Marathon and it was great to jump the queues in the tense wait to start the run.

“But what I really love is its potential for a huge sustainability impact by reducing toxic waste generation at events.”

Music agent Emma Banks, another investor, said: “I saw a short TV clip about Hazel and Amber where they spoke about Peequal and it struck a chord with me.

“I am very happy to help support these two inspiring women tackle an inequality that has been so obvious for a long time, and now has a really great solution.”