Rael is a Los Angeles–founded women’s wellness and personal-care brand best known for organic cotton menstrual products, skincare, and holistic cycle-care products. The company was founded in 2017 by three Korean-American women—Yanghee Paik, Aness An, and Binna Won—who wanted to bring the quality and product innovation they associated with South Korean feminine care to the U.S. market 1.

Rather than positioning menstruation as an isolated hygiene issue, Rael has developed its brand around the idea that period care is part of broader self-care and women’s wellness. Its product portfolio has consequently expanded from pads and other menstrual products into skincare, vulva care, supplements, and products addressing other cycle-related concerns 2.

Company Profile

The company’s current corporate profile identifies Rael as a privately held company headquartered in Culver City, California, founded in 2017 4.

Founding

Rael was established in 2017 by Yanghee Paik, Aness An, and Binna Won. All three founders are Korean American, and their background played an important role in the company’s original concept.

According to Rael, the founders saw a difference between the feminine-care products available in the United States and products they were familiar with from South Korea. They wanted to combine high-quality organic cotton with Korean manufacturing and product-development technology.

The founding team also had diverse professional backgrounds. Aness An was a journalist and bestselling author, Binna Won was an architect who became an art director, and Yanghee Paik previously worked at Walt Disney Studios and holds an MBA from Harvard.

First Product and Early Growth

Rael initially focused on organic cotton menstrual pads. The products were launched in the United States in 2017, initially through Amazon and Rael’s own online store.

The company’s early success came largely from e-commerce. Rael’s organic cotton pads became one of the leading-selling feminine-care products on Amazon, helping the relatively young company establish itself before expanding into physical retail 5.

Expansion into Retail

Rael subsequently expanded its distribution beyond direct-to-consumer sales. In 2019, for example, the brand entered approximately 1,850 Target stores in the United States.

The company has also reported distribution through major retailers including Amazon, Target, Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens.

Yanghee Paik

Yanghee Paik is Rael’s co-founder and CEO. Before creating Rael, she worked in strategy and distribution at The Walt Disney Studios. Her experience in large-scale entertainment and distribution helped inform Rael’s subsequent consumer and digital-commerce strategy.

Paik has become the principal public face of the company and has emphasized the idea that menstrual care should be considered part of everyday self-care rather than something relevant only during menstruation.

Aness An

Aness An is a co-founder with a background in journalism and writing. Her involvement helped shape Rael’s emphasis on consumer education and communication surrounding women’s health and feminine care.

Binna Won

Binna Won, another co-founder, came from architecture and art direction. Her design background contributed to Rael’s visual identity and consumer-oriented approach 6.

Rael’s central philosophy can be summarized as:

“Cycle Care > Period Care.”

The idea is that women’s health and personal care shouldn’t begin and end with menstruation. Rael therefore approaches the menstrual cycle as one component of broader physical and personal wellness.

The company describes its approach as a 360-degree holistic solution, extending from period products to skin, vulva, and other wellness needs.

Its positioning is built around several recurring themes:

• Clean and transparent ingredients
• Organic and natural materials where appropriate
• Korean product and manufacturing innovation
• Comfort and performance
• Women’s health education
• Holistic cycle care
• Accessibility and menstrual dignity

Rael’s original identity was strongly associated with menstrual care, but the portfolio is now considerably broader.

1. Period Care

This remains one of Rael’s most recognizable categories.

Products include:

• Organic cotton pads
• Pantyliners
• Tampons
• Period underwear
• Disposable period underwear
• Other menstrual-care products

Rael’s original organic cotton pads were particularly important to the company’s early growth and positioning.

2. Skin Care

Rael later entered the beauty and skincare market under its broader wellness positioning.

Products have included:

• Facial masks
• Acne/pimple patches
• Skin treatments
• Moisturizing and soothing products
• Products intended to address cycle-related skin changes

The company’s skincare concept was partly inspired by the observation that hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle can affect the skin.

3. Vulva and Intimate Care

Rael also sells products intended specifically for intimate and vulvar care, extending its original feminine-care expertise beyond menstrual products.

4. Supplements and Wellness

The brand has expanded into supplements and hormonal/cycle wellness, particularly in the Korean market. Rael’s Korean business describes this broader portfolio as including products designed around women’s life stages and inner beauty 7.

5. Incontinence Care

Rael’s current U.S. site also lists incontinence as one of its product categories, demonstrating how the company has moved from a narrowly menstrual-focused business toward a wider personal-care platform.

One of Rael’s defining characteristics is its connection between Korean innovation and Western consumer markets.

The founders’ Korean-American backgrounds gave them familiarity with the South Korean feminine-care and beauty markets. They sought to combine U.S.-sourced organic cotton with Korean manufacturing expertise when developing the original pads.

This Korean connection later became even more important as Rael expanded into skincare and wellness, areas in which Korean beauty technology and product-development practices are particularly influential.

The company describes its products as being manufactured using advanced South Korean technology, while its U.S. identity remains rooted in Los Angeles.

Rael has developed a significant presence in South Korea in addition to its U.S. business.

Rael Korea operates its own business and e-commerce presence and has expanded the brand beyond period products into beauty and wellness. Its Korean product ecosystem includes:

• Feminine care
• Beauty/skincare
• Supplements
• Women’s wellness products

The Korean operation describes the brand as a 360° women’s wellness-care company rather than simply a menstrual-hygiene brand 10.

Rael has attracted substantial venture investment as it expanded.

In 2018, the company announced a $17.5 million Series A round. Investors included Mirae Asset, GS Retail Fund, SoftBank Ventures Korea, BAM Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, and others.

In 2022, Rael announced a $35 million Series B investment. The company said this was the largest investment in the feminine-care category at the time 6.

Investors and backers associated with Rael have included organizations such as:

• Unilever Ventures
• SoftBank Ventures Asia/Korea
• BAM Ventures
• Pritzker Group Venture Capital
• Mirae Asset
• Atinum Partners
• Other institutional and venture investors

The funding has supported product development, retail expansion, marketing, and international growth.

Although Rael originated in Los Angeles, the brand has pursued international distribution.

Rael’s Singapore distributor, for example, describes the brand as being available in 19 countries, while the company’s U.S. materials have described international expansion across numerous markets 8.

Its international strategy has particularly benefited from the combination of:

U.S. consumer branding + Korean manufacturing/beauty expertise + e-commerce distribution.

For readers in Singapore, official information and local availability can be found through the regional entity 11.

Rael occupies an interesting position within the consumer-health and beauty market.

It isn’t simply a traditional menstrual-hygiene company like a conventional pad or tampon manufacturer. At the same time, it isn’t purely a skincare company.

Instead, its positioning sits at the intersection of:

Menstrual care → Women’s wellness → Beauty → Hormonal/cycle care → Self-care

This has allowed Rael to expand its potential customer relationship from a few days of menstrual care each month to products that can be used throughout the entire cycle.

Rael’s branding tends to emphasize:

• Modern, approachable feminine wellness
• Ingredient-conscious products
• Korean innovation
• Natural/organic materials
• Body confidence
• Menstrual education
• Self-care rather than embarrassment
• A more holistic understanding of women’s health

This is an important distinction from older feminine-hygiene advertising, which historically focused heavily on concealment and discretion.

Rael instead tries to frame periods and cycle-related changes as normal aspects of the body that deserve informed care.

The company has also positioned menstrual access and education as part of its social mission.

Rael says it has participated in initiatives involving menstrual-hygiene-kit donations, collection programs, period education, and efforts to improve access to feminine-care products for underserved women and girls.

This connects the company’s commercial positioning with the broader menstrual equity / period dignity movement.

Rael initially benefited heavily from the direct-to-consumer and e-commerce model.

Its early growth illustrates a common modern consumer-brand trajectory:

Online launch → Amazon traction → strong consumer reviews → retail expansion → product diversification → international expansion

The company subsequently developed a multichannel distribution model involving its own websites, online marketplaces, and major retailers.

Rael’s development can broadly be divided into four stages:

1. 2017 — Menstrual-care startup
   Rael launches organic cotton menstrual pads in the U.S.

2. 2018–2019 — Rapid commercialization
   The company raises significant venture funding and expands into major U.S. retail, including Target.

3. 2020–2021 — Beauty and holistic care
   Rael expands into skincare and develops the concept of “period beauty” and broader cycle care.

4. 2022 onward — Women’s wellness platform
   The brand expands further into supplements, skin, vulva care, hormonal wellness, and other areas, while continuing international expansion.

The simplest way to understand Rael is that it started as a period-care company but deliberately evolved into a cycle-care company.

Its differentiation comes from combining three identities:

1. American consumer brand
Born in Los Angeles and initially targeting the U.S. market.

2. Korean innovation
The founders’ Korean background and relationships with South Korean manufacturing and beauty technology are central to the brand story.

3. Holistic women’s wellness
Rather than stopping at pads and tampons, Rael attempts to address the skin, intimate health, hormonal changes, supplements, and other needs associated with the menstrual cycle and different stages of women’s lives.

That evolution is essentially the story of Rael: from an organic-pad startup in 2017 into a broader women’s wellness and beauty brand.

Official Resources

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Note: Rael is sometimes confused with Raël, the French religious leader associated with the Raëlian Movement. They are completely unrelated entities 12.

1. About Rael | The Rael Story
2. Amazon’s Best Selling Feminine Care Startup, Rael Raises $17.5M in Series A Funding
3. Rael | Holistic Health Products for Your Cycle
4. Rael
5. Empowering Women with Holistic Care: A Conversation with Rael’s Co-Founder and CEO, Yanghee Paik – The Korea Society
6. Rael Raises $35M in Series B Funding, The Largest Investment in The Feminine Care Category to Date
7. 아마존 1위 유기농 생리대, 라엘(Rael) 공식몰
8. About Us – Rael Singapore
9. Rael – Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding
10. Rael Korea
11. Rael Singapore
12. Raël