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Freshbrush rebrands as Toothcrush, readies for Aussie expansion

It has been a busy past few months for Toothcrush, formerly known as Freshbrush. The first-of-its-kind service – which mails a new, 100 percent biodegradable toothbrush to subscribers each month – has grown to more than 4,000 subscribers throughout Aotearoa, and now plans on expanding into Australia this spring.

We caught up with founder and CEO Annabel Hurman. Here’s what she had to say.

Idealog: Why the new name?

Annabel Hurman: We couldn’t trademark Freshbrush in overseas markets, and so we’ve changed our name so that the rest of the world can subscribe to a better toothbrush. It’s hard saying goodbye to the name Freshbrush as it was with us from the start! But we’re sure people will crush on their Toothcrushes just as much.

How many subscribers do you currently have?

We have around 4,000 subscribers as of the end of June. Our children’s brushes have just become available for ordering and in the 5 days since the launch we’ve had 150 children’s brushes ordered. So we are super excited about that. One of the main motivations behind the idea of Toothcrush was my frustration at having to choose a gender stereotyped cartoon toothbrush for my kids.

Has the success surprised you?

We’ve been really pleased with how well it’s gone for the last 6 months, but I’d be reluctant to call us a success just yet! It’s early days and we have plenty of challenges ahead of us.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far?

Oh my gosh, it’s been such a steep learning curve, it’s hard to pick out just one!

Why do you think no-one else has come up with this concept (toothbrushes delivered by mail) before?

I bet that loads of people have thought about it! But it’s great to be the first ones to actually do it and deliver an environmentally conscious choice.

So what comes next?

So our next big step is moving into the Australian market. We will be delivering our Toothcrushes to Australia by September this year.

Anything else you’d like to say?

We are super excited to be able to offer customised Toothcrush family packs for families of all shapes and sizes. And with free shipping, we are keeping Toothcrush affordable for everyone.

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