vögeln

Celebrating female-founded brands you'll want to know.

Since November 2025, we've been spotlighting the next generation of female-founded consumer brands and celebrating female entrepreneurship, showing that building a business is a real, viable career path for women from all walks of life, regardless of background, age, culture, or circumstance.

We started Mindful Brand to support women in succeeding in business - not just through what we do, but also in how we shop. We believe in a future where more seven-figure consumer brands are built by women, and we're committed to helping make that vision a reality.

Deciding which businesses to support is a personal choice.

If, like us, you prefer to champion female-owned brands, we hope you enjoy this series.

Today, we’re featuring vögeln, founded by Katie Payne in 2026 in Germany.

About the Brand

vögeln launched in February 2026 in Germany as the first brand and product from OhMyV GmbH. It's a f*cking gel - a water-based lube designed specifically for vaginal health, independently tested and certified as vaginal microbiome-friendly, and a certified medical device.

vögeln is for anyone with a vulva, or who enjoys vulvas, who deserves pleasure without compromising their health.

It's the only lube made in Germany that's actually been made for, then tested and certified to be safe for the vaginal microbiome. Not just 'pH-balanced' but genuinely, independently verified. That's not marketing - that's science. And this is just the beginning, with the next products in development for STI protection.

Meet the Founder

Katie is a first-time, solo founder - an Aussie living in Germany, and founder and CEO of OhMyV.

Before this, Katie spent her career in publishing. Not exactly the conventional path into biotech. But she came with something better than experience: she came with anger, frustration, and a very specific problem to solve.

How She Started

Katie had a cervical screening come back with cervical dysplasia - pre-cancerous cells from HPV - and began to question everything. She'd been vaccinated, had regular screenings, used condoms and dams. And there she was, facing surgery.

That's when she got angry. Not just at the diagnosis, but at the gender inequality baked into sexual health research and the total lack of comprehensive STI protection, especially for vulvas.

After surgery, Katie was terrified to have sex again and started looking for products that were actually safe for healing, sensitive tissue. She couldn't find them. The products she'd trusted were disrupting the very part of her body she was trying to protect - so she built the company and products she needed to exist.

What She Learned

Katie has learned that it really does take a village - build your network and ask for help when you need it.

Where to shop

vögeln is available to buy at thevogeln.com (EU only for now), or at independent retailers across Germany - Keller Kreuzberg in Berlin, Fuck Yeah in Hamburg, Juicy in Leipzig, erogene Zone in Freiburg, and Drip in Cologne.

Instagram: @the_vogeln

TikTok: @itsthevogeln

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