From Cardboard to CAD: How PEEQUAL Used SOLIDWORKS to Scale Pee-Equality

Toilet inequality might not make headlines, but for women at festivals and crowded events, it’s an uncomfortable and often painful reality that is experienced multiple times a day.

With a shared mission to tackle gender inequality in sanitation, Amber Probyn and Hazel McShane co-founded PEEQUAL, a purpose-driven hardware start-up designing women’s urinals that are fast, hygienic, and sustainable.

Supported by the SOLIDWORKS for Startups programme programme, their journey from cardboard prototypes to international deployments champions equality and provides an inspiring story of success for two pioneering women.

Cutting the Queue: The Birth of PEEQUAL

PEEQUAL was born from lived frustration. While working at festivals during their university summers, Amber and Hazel faced the same issue time and time again.

“Sometimes you’re stuck in 40+ minute queues,” Hazel recalls, “so you miss out on your favourite band or the pint you wanted.”

With background degrees in Anthropology and Physics respectively, they had both enrolled in Bristol University’s Innovation programme in their fourth year, challenging themselves with solving a real-world problem.

Experiencing the problem first-hand while working at festivals encouraged Hazel (L) and Amber (not pictured) to join forces and start PEEQUAL.

Having previously worked together on various projects, Hazel and Amber knew their collective effort could slash wait times and make a substantial, positive difference to women’s experiences at festivals and other events.

In our breaks we had to choose between getting food or going to the loo, because the queues for the women’s were just astronomically long and it was unfair!

Amber Probyn, PEEQUAL Co-Founder

The graduating Bristol University students set out on their mission to cut the queues with an inclusive and sustainable approach to pee-equality at festivals around the United Kingdom.

Graduating to Working Prototypes

Their prototyping journey began with makeshift models built from all kinds of scrap material – cardboard, wood, and metal— anything they could get their hands on.

“One of our mentors told us, ‘You just have to get out there!’” Hazel says. “So even if our prototypes were the wrong size or made from scrap metal, we brought them to COVID-safe events and tested them in the field.”

Amber Probyn (L) and Hazel McShane (R) working on their card PEEQUAL prototype.

The energy of the PEEQUAL team is palpable as they reflect on their early stages of prototyping; wry smiles accompany their recollection of taking their colourful, scrap metal prototypes from their university kitchen to the streets of Bristol, seeking feedback from women in local pubs and events across the city.

We just thought, surely there’s a better way? The more we researched, the more outraged we became that there wasn’t already a solution.

Amber Probyn, PEEQUAL Co-Founder

PEEQUAL took a people-first approach to solving a problem that resonates with a huge proportion of the population. As they listened, they found their own experiences were validated, as their end-users displayed a clear appetite for their solution.

But despite this encouraging user feedback, the future of many startups like PEEQUAL often requires several rounds of fundraising, and one of PEEQUAL’s biggest challenges? Raising the initial investment required to get their product onto the festival ground.

How CAD Helped PEEQUAL Overcome Fundraising Barriers

Typically, new start-ups face a familiar barrier when starting out – winning the backing of investors.

Not only must they convince them of the commercial promise of their end product, but they also need to forecast an appealing return on investment, navigate manufacturing logistics, and build a robust business case that can withstand the scrutiny of potential investors.

So after iterating through around 20 prototypes, they calculated they would need £250,000 to produce a moulded design fit for mass deployment and approached .

But PEEQUAL had to overcome an additional barrier on top of these regular challenges – the high-profile social issue of gender inequality.

“We were often pitching to male-dominated rooms – sometimes we were laughed at or misunderstood. But SOLIDWORKS changed that.”

Hazel McShane, PEEQUAL Co-Founder

While their concept could convince their target end users, it was clear that a more portable way of communicating their vision was required to maximise their opportunity in the boardroom.

Discovering SOLIDWORKS for Start-ups

The SOLIDWORKS for Startups programme provides early-stage businesses with free access to the SOLIDWORKS portfolio of design software applications for a year and came at a critical moment for PEEQUAL.

PEEQUAL used SOLIDWORKS to design and develop their women’s urinal and its flat-pack ability.

“The discounts were a stepping stone,” says Hazel,”without them, we wouldn’t have been able to produce the early designs that helped us raise our first round.”

PEEQUAL’s successful application gave them access to premium 3D CAD tools as well as rendering software for creating animations and the imagery that Amber credits as a contributing factor for winning investment for PEEQUAL.

Our first key interaction with CAD meant we could show real visuals in our investor decks.

We raised a quarter of a million pounds during COVID using those rendered images. It [SOLIDWORKS] gave us the tools, the access, and the community support to grow.

Amber Probyn, PEEQUAL Co-Founder

SOLIDWORKS for Start-ups gives entrepreneurs like PEEQUAL the opportunity to fundraise, win investments, and engineer world-changing products without needing large up-front capital or incurring significant overheads.

Hazel and Amber were able to utilise the industry-leading software portfolio to win significant investment, meaning they could leave behind their days of scavenging for scrap metal and cardboard!

Bristol

PEEQUAL have been featured on a range of local and national media outlets including Bristol Live and the BBC after securing a £250,000 investment in 2021.

With SOLIDWORKS, the team could evaluate manufacturability, anticipate logistical challenges and design the product for disassembly without using a hefty physical prototype in a trial-and-error approach.

As part of the TriMech Group, Solid Solutions has proudly supported a huge variety of start-ups with their product development needs, helping them to realise their potential by providing support and guidance alongside the software tools that include 2D & 3D CAD, product data and lifecycle management, visualisation, CAM & manufacturing, and FEA/CFD simulation.

Designing for Impact: From CAD to the Real World

Switching from Fusion 360 to SOLIDWORKS allowed PEEQUAL to streamline their collaboration with manufacturers.

Speaking the same language as our manufacturing partners made design changes smoother and faster.

Hazel McShane, PEEQUAL Co-Founder

Key features like assembly modelling and virtual testing were transformational for the team, enabling them to test mechanisms, evaluate different materials, and check whether the design was strong enough to withstand persistent use.

As PEEQUAL’s product is flat-pack, designing for efficient storage and transportation is essential to its success. “We needed to model every layout scenario—haulage, on-site set-up, uneven terrain,” explains Hazel, “SOLIDWORKS helps us do that with confidence.”

Renderings of SOLIDWORKS models provided PEEQUAL with clear ways to communicate core concepts, design variations, and alternative configurations for multiple sites as they sought early investment.

In the wilds of industry, clear communication at every stage of the design process is essential for a business’ survival; a reality the team at PEEQUAL have had to thoughtfully address throughout their quest for pee-equality.

“Having CAD models, we could put into PowerPoint and raise funding on was game-changing,” Amber adds. “That professional look and functionality gave us credibility.”

Real-World Results and an Environmental Boost

“It’s not just about women, it’s about the planet, too.”

Hazel McShane, PEEQUAL Co-Founder

PEEQUAL actively consider the environment when designing their urinals. This conscious approach is clearly evident from the choices they’ve made for materials, to haulage and downstream waste management throughout the design phase.

Amber Probyn looking at PEEQUAL stacked onto a haulage lorry.

Alongside supporting reforestation and wildlife campaigns, Hazel and Amber have produced their urinals from two key materials: recycled ocean plastic and a sugar cane biopolymer. This simple choice has a positive impact on the planet at both the start and end of the product’s life, including:

• Reducing the volume of ocean plastic waste by diverting it into a product instead of alternative landfills.
• Avoiding petroleum-based plastics that have negative climate impacts at every stage of their lifecycle.
• Providing a carbon store in the biopolymer that remains trapped even when the product is recycled at the end of its usable life.

As well as minimising their own manufacturing carbon footprint, PEEQUAL choice of flat-pack design means they can transport more loos per lorry than larger, conventional portable toilets. So swapping a lorry of portable loos for PEEQUAL’s would see a substantially lower carbon cost per loo for downstream consumers!

We found haulage was our biggest carbon contributor. Our design is three times more efficient than standard portable toilets.

Hazel McShane, PEEQUAL Co-Founder

And, while your business might be done, PEEQUAL’s continues… The team are also working with universities to turn collected urine into fertiliser, completing a circular model and reusing that wonderful nitrogen to help enhance plant growth.

From Start-up to Scale-up: International Markets

After launching at Glastonbury Festival in 2022, PEEQUAL rapidly expanded to multiple sites. This expansion has provided additional feedback from multiple sources, including: event organisers, sanitation experts, haulage providers, and even forklift operators!

PEEQUAL have maintained their open minds to receive feedback, allowing them to develop their product further and inform design decisions to enhance production, usability, and accessibility as they set their sights on a European expansion.

PEEQUAL and founders at various festival sites across the UK.

“We wanted this next version to be seamless for everyone in the deployment process,” Hazel explains as
PEEQUAL prepare to scale up across Europe and beyond.

“We’re looking at Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia… SOLIDWORKS enables us to design for global deployment!”

The fifth version of their urinal is currently in development, and PEEQUAL have laid bare their exciting plans for manufacturing this latest version of their product in Poland.

The SOLIDWORKS for Start-ups Difference

PEEQUAL’s growth story is not just about innovative design; it’s about access, support, and the tools to build change at scale.

“SOLIDWORKS was what the industry was using, and through the programme, we got to join that conversation,” concludes Hazel.

We couldn’t miss the opportunity to expand that conversation further and learn from those who have found startup success, so we asked PEEQUAL’s co-founders what advice they might have for their fellow entrepreneurs.

“If you’re not truly convicted by the problem you’re solving, you won’t keep going on the tough days. The problem anchors your purpose.”

“Find your community, find support, and just start. Having a business partner by your side can help you navigate the trickiest challenges.”

Stories like Amber’s and Hazel’s are inspiring for designers across the world who are looking to solve the challenges of the modern world.

As consistent supporters of excellence, we’d encourage you to follow in their footsteps! Put pen to paper and bring your ideas into the world, or have that initial conversation and start collaborating with fellow creative minds. You never know where it might lead.

From cardboard to CAD, to conservation, PEEQUAL’s pursuit of “pee-equality” has seen them establish themselves as a force of nature as they continue to develop number one products with both people and planet in mind.