How do you get women to try organic tampons? Give them out at Equinox

Starting Wednesday, every Equinox member will find tampons from Lola in their gym's women's bathrooms.

That's a big deal for Lola. The organic tampon subscription service and wholesaler was one of the first high-profile women's health companies to make a splash in Silicon Valley (or Silicon Alley, since Lola is based in New York). Since 2015, Lola has raised $11.2 million in funding from investors including Spark Capital, Trump in-law Josh Kushner, Lena Dunham and Allison Williams.

But since Lola's launch, the buzz around wholesale or subscription models for women's health tech startups has started to fade. Lola makes tampons and pads out of organic cotton and sends them directly to consumers via a subscription model. But there's also Cora, which launched after Lola with a similar idea, and Flex, which is trying to get women to switch to a disposable menstrual disc.

So how can Lola stand out? Like many startups before it, Lola is turning from business-to-consumer to business-to-business.

The organic tampon startup has worked on the B2B model in conjunction with its main consumer business since it launched. At first, it made B2B deals with fellow tech companies like Airbnb, Casper and Warby Parker that already provided free feminine care products in their corporate offices.

That model has proved especially key for a product like tampons, where brand loyalty is strong. Even if consumers would be open to trying another brand, they're probably not thinking about it too much and just buying the usual box from their local drugstore. Sometimes it takes encountering a new option in a familiar setting for a customer to get on board.

"Yes, there is brand loyalty in this category, but only when you're not thinking about it, on autopilot," Lola co-founder Jordana Kier said. "When women realize they're in rote behavior, they're excited and compelled to make the switch."

Lola's deal with Equinox is a little different than its past B2B agreements. Instead of just reaching employees in one building in Silicon Valley, Lola will reach every woman with an Equinox membership at 87 gyms in the United States. The deal doesn't include products for Equinox's boutique fitness locations, like SoulCycle and Pure Yoga.

"It's definitely a slightly different twist on the B2B model to have Equinox providing our products to their customers," co-founder Alex Friedman said.

Getting its products is one way to regain an edge over competitors in a space that has grown wildly in just the past two years. Next up: SoulCycle?