Jude slays dragons and taboos with bladder care brand
Making her appearance with her supplement brand Jude on the UK show in March 2024, Li was on a mission to help break body taboos for the 2.3 billion people who suffer bladder issues—and in the process build a whole new category around the problem.
Founded in 2021, Jude offers underwear, everyday pads and all-day liners to help bladder symptoms. But what particularly interested the Dragons was her hero supplement, featuring high-dose medicinal pumpkin seed extracts and soy phytoestrogen. Li says that the formula is clinically proven to help people regain bladder control in as few as 90 days.
"Very few people know our pelvic floor and bladder needs estrogen too," she explained. "That’s why most women going through menopause see symptoms such as leaks and overactive bladder.
"Jude’s soy phytoestrogen can help replenish and rebalance estrogen levels. It’s a unique formula that was clinically tested independently in a randomised controlled trial with placebo."
Li described pumpkin seeds as "little nutritional powerhouses". She pointed out they come with naturally occurring magnesium, zinc, amino acids and antioxidants that help relax bladder overactivity and have been used by doctors in Europe as a traditional herbal remedy.
The supplements are made in the UK while ingredients are sourced from Spain and extracted with a patented technology to maximize gut absorption.
Not settling for less
"It was a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime experience," Li told NutraIngredients, speaking of her Dragons’ Den appearance. "Incontinence is not discussed enough especially in the media or on TV, but given the number of women who suffer from it, it deserves airtime."
Li held out for £100,000 of investment for 1% of her business and stuck to her guns when the Dragons wanted more equity. She cited the fact that investors were already behind her and the company had already netted £1.4m in revenue.
"Turning down the Dragons was a really difficult decision to make, and it did feel like a shame we couldn't make a deal in the Den," she said.
"However, I keep in mind the worth of our business which was set by our existing investors. It was important to me that I honor Jude's investors who have believed in our potential even before we had a product and a team. These principles guided me to not settle for less for Jude."
Her appearance also put the business on "a different growth category". Li said it doubled the number of customer queries and led to a three-fold increase in the number of customers served every day.
Busting bladder taboos
However, Li said the biggest benefit of the show was helping to break the bladder care taboo. As a child, Li suffered with bladder problems and saw first-hand how they impact both confidence and life quality.
"For me, what matters the most is for people with bladder issues to feel seen and heard," she said. "The episode showed our nation there is nothing to be embarrassed about leaks."
Meanwhile, Li has plenty of plans for the next decade of Jude.
"Becoming the world’s most trusted voice in bladder care is our goal," she said. "That means we’re going to work on offering our range to new geographies and expanding our clinical research behind new products we’ll be launching."
