Business
12 Leading Investors Explain Why They’re Funding Sextech
12 Investors Explain Why They’re Funding Sextech. Top right to left: Courtney Broadus, Lars Rasmussen, Alison Hartman, Elomida Visviki, Monique Woodard, Lina Wenner Bottom right to left: Aubrie Pagano, Cyan Banister, Laura
For some, it’s personal. For others, it’s political. But the one motivation that drives nearly every sextech VC is the exploding market in sexual wellness.
Much of the coverage of sextech has focused on the founders and their products. But given the funding issues faced by sextech companies, a more important issue might be the motivation of the investors themselves. Because whether its vibrator design or contraceptive delivery or educational platforms, no sextech company can change the world without funding.
Some sextech pioneers, like MakeLoveNotPorn’s Cindy Gallop, are lucky enough to have a single investor who believes in — and helps fund — her company. For sextech companies raising outside funding, it’s still a big deal to be backed by major VC funds. (Recently, app-based audio erotica platform Dipsea raised $5.5M in a competitive funding round, a hopeful harbinger of what we’ll start to see in this space.)
So I asked nearly a dozen prominent investors in sextech — some of whom have invested in O.school,* and others who have invested in companies like Maude, Unbound, Elvie, and Juicebox — the central question: Why are you investing in sextech?
‘Overlooked’ and ‘Ignored’
Many cited the promise of a surprisingly untapped market — women.
“You can tell that this market is growing by the unicorn status of companies like Rent the Runway and Glossier,” venture capital investor Monique Woodard told me. “But so far women’s health, women’s sexuality, and women’s products have been ignored. Given the demographic shifts that are underway right now, a women’s health company that also has a lens into women of color will be even more important.”
“Given the demographic shifts that are underway right now, a women’s health company that also has a lens into women of color will be even more important.” — Monique Woodard
“There is a huge business opportunity in sextech,” says Christie Pitts, partner at Backstage Capital, a VC fund dedicated to funding people of color, women, and other “underestimated” founders. “Women control nearly all of the purchasing decisions and the majority of the wealth in the US, yet have been overlooked when it comes to products and solutions dedicated to their pleasure.”
Lina Wenner, principal at firstminute Capital, a $100M UK-based seed fund backed by 30 unicorn founders, sees that trend only growing.
“We’re particularly excited by the younger, more sexually liberated Gen Z gaining share of wallet and opening up the conversation around [sextech],” she says. “Over the next few years, we’ll continue to see an increasing democratization and growing social acceptance of — particularly female — sexual pleasure. If we can speed this up by investing into the right teams, that would be a great outcome for us.”
‘A Huge Part of Our Lives’
“The current cultural climate has created a window to shake up this moth-eaten market with new, innovative thinking and design,” says XFactor Ventures partner Aubrie Pagano, pointing me to a Medium post she wrote upon backing the sexual wellness company, Maude, in 2018. The real excitement for her? 10% YOY growth in a market that’s barely explored anyone but young cis males.
Pagano isn’t the only one drawn in by the potential to remake a long-stagnant industry. Changes in technology have made it easier for products to get to prototype, and crowdfunding is allowing founders with a little money and a strong idea to get to market.
“Sex toys in general are really interesting,” says Cyan Banister, an angel investor and partner in Founders Fund. “There are lots of people innovating on form and function of these products, especially women entrepreneurs. Previous to companies like JimmyJane, there weren’t a lot of products that were geared towards innovation of materials. … And, it’s becoming less of an issue. The fact that you can get a Trojan finger vibrator at Walgreens or Walmart means that it’s becoming a little less stigmatized, which makes me very hopeful for the future.”
“[Sex is] such a huge, important part of our life. We should embrace it, and it has to be fun.” – Elomida Visviki
‘A Moral Imperative’
Elomida Visviki and husband Lars Rasmussen, co-founder of the company that became Google Maps, find the reticence to discuss sex in the US — and by extension Silicon Valley — unnerving, and a bit silly. (During their first pitch meeting with me, Visviki breastfed their child.)
“It’s been an undervalued, ‘shady’ category,” says Visviki, who grew up in Greece, “but it’s such a huge, important part of our life. We should embrace it, and it has to be fun.”
“When I was in college I volunteered at the local kindergarten, and [sex ed] was the kids’ favorite subject,” says Rasmussen, who was raised in Denmark. “Now I live in a country that if you suggested that kids learn about sex and pleasure in kindergarten, it would not be OK. I want to be part of changing that. … Despite the hangups about sex, everyone loves it and everyone is interested. It’s just a matter of time before someone breaks through.”
Gerda Larsson, co-founder and managing director at The Case for Her, a European fund which invests in women’s health, says she sees huge opportunities in markets like sex education and fertility. But to truly realize that potential, investors simultaneously tackle stigma.
“Why can I see Viagra ads everywhere,” she asks, “but you’re not allowed to advertise sexual products for women? Why is my sexuality shamed and framed as unnatural?”
Larsson says she invests in sextech as a strategy to close the gender gap — The Case for Her launched its Pleasure Portfolio in 2018:
“We started investing in sextech after identifying it as one of the solutions that could tackle the global taboo surrounding sex and female sexual pleasure. Tech gives people the opportunity to explore, nurture and innovate around pleasure and what that means to you.”
“Over the next few years, we’ll continue to see an increasing democratization and growing social acceptance of — particularly female — sexual pleasure.” -Lina Wenner
“Sexuality is part of wellness,” says angel investor Laura Behrens Wu. “My investment in sextech shouldn’t be viewed any differently than investments in other types of healthcare, like Headspace or Calm — and that’s a huge, established market. Investors who insist on segmenting out one aspect of our bodies, just because it makes some people uncomfortable, may regret it in five years.”
Courtney Broadus, a member of Broadway Angels, an all-female investment group world-class angel investors, sees investment in sextech as a moral imperative. “Youth, teens and beyond [need to] have access to scientific information about consent and healthy, safe and enjoyable sex.”
“Sexual health and wellness are still taboo in so much of our culture,” says Alison Hartman, Ph.D, an angel investor in New Orleans. “I love that Juicebox democratizes access to experts on sex and relationships.”
For Jake Gibson, an angel investor and co-founder of NerdWallet, the educational aspect of sextech can offer an antidote the bullying, misinformation and shame that now seems to saturate online life.
“When the internet started, it was a place for all freaks and geeks,” he told me. “As the internet grew and evolved, it has gotten toxic, exactly like the places you had to run away from before. That’s why I invested in O.school — because safe places are important.”
Pioneering investors have begun the process, but the market is imbalanced. Once institutional investors come in, we may finally unlock the sector’s true potential.
‘Entrepreneurs Are Standing Ready’
“The fact that you can get a Trojan finger vibrator at Walgreens or Walmart means that it’s becoming a little less stigmatized, which makes me very hopeful for the future.” – Cyan Banister
“It’s a growing industry and the entrepreneurs are standing ready to go,” says Larsson. “Now we need more investors and pioneers from the finance sector to take on the subject and start realizing the potential both from the rights perspective and as an investment case.”
“Sextech is underserved because a lot of people that do not see the exit opportunities, and they don’t understand the space — or they have vice clauses in their LP agreements that keep them from investing in the space,” says Banister. “I try to identify companies that I believe that aren’t so “risky” they can’t fit, but can be mainstream — but also moving the needle to what people think can be a VC-type investment. It’s the mission and the outsize return opportunity. ”
“I think it’s time we provide something relevant to the market,” says Sophia Bendz, an angel investor and partner at Atomico, one of the most respected institutional VC funds in Europe, with a $765M fourth fund. “I like the idea of a sextech company being founded by women and targeting the needs of women in a more ambitious way and not having someone else dictating the rules … I believe it has a huge potential.” Forbes
Business
As Nigerians Battle Pains Of Soaring Petrol Price
This is more than just about fuel; it’s about the larger picture of governance failure. The fact that a country as oil-rich as Nigeria can’t provide affordable fuel for its people is a tragedy.
BY IFEANYI MOGBOLU
The Daily Times-The latest fuel price hike in Nigeria is beyond frustrating. Every time we think it can’t get worse, it does, and yet again, ordinary Nigerians bear the brunt of it.
It’s like a never-ending cycle, where the government’s promises of reforms or stabilisation always end up as empty rhetoric. The cost of living is already sky-high, and now, with fuel prices rising again, transport fares, food prices, and basic commodities are bound to follow suit.
It’s enraging because it doesn’t feel like anyone is truly considering the everyday citizen who is struggling just to survive.
This is more than just about fuel; it’s about the larger picture of governance failure. The fact that a country as oil-rich as Nigeria can’t provide affordable fuel for its people is a tragedy. The subsidies are gone, and now we’re left in a situation where the prices of everything keep climbing, while salaries remain stagnant or non-existent for many.
The disparity between the elites and the masses is growing, and it feels like nobody in power truly cares about the suffering of the people.
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The anger isn’t just about fuel; it’s about the entire state of living. Nigerians are exhausted. There’s no sense of security; power supply is erratic, basic infrastructure is crumbling, and inflation is at an all-time high. How do we live like this? Every day is a battle to make ends meet, and the government seems utterly disconnected from the struggles on the ground.
It’s infuriating that while politicians and elites live in luxury, the rest of us are left scrambling for the bare minimum. The state of living is unbearable, and the lack of empathy or real action from those in power only adds salt to the wound.
There’s a deep sense of anger and betrayal that comes with seeing your country’s wealth mismanaged, while the people continue to suffer. It’s hard not to feel like we are constantly being taken for granted, pushed further into hardship without any hope of relief. Something has to give, because this state of affairs is unsustainable.
QUOTE:
The anger isn’t just about fuel; it’s about the entire state of living. Nigerians are exhausted. There’s no sense of security; power supply is erratic, basic infrastructure is crumbling, and inflation is at an all-time high. How do we live like this? Every day is a battle to make ends meet, and the government seems utterly disconnected from the struggles on the ground. It’s infuriating that while politicians and elites live in luxury, the rest of us are left scrambling for the bare minimum.
Business
Nigeria To Receive $5.600,000 From Bill Gates, For Health And Agricultural Reforms, GMOs
Alongside the activities surrounding the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Vice President Kashim Shettima held a meeting with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation leading to the announcement of the donation by the Foundation’s head of Global Development.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving Nigeria through Vice President Kashim Shettima, a $5.600,000 funds to speedy up health and agricultural reforms in favour of the GMOs in Nigeria, and flood relief.
Through the Foundation’s head of Global Development Programme, Dr Christopher Elias, Bill Gates pledged $5 million grant approved for Lagos Business School and partners to develop the agricultural economics they called “industrial cassava” and $600,000 for flood relief in Borno State and other health sector initiatives.
Alongside the activities surrounding the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Vice President Kashim Shettima held a meeting with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation leading to the announcement of the donation by the Foundation’s head of Global Development.
Recall that on 4 September, Bill Gates had described the Nigeria’s economy as “stagnated” and proposed agricultural reforms for faster and increased growths in crops, fruits, vegetables amongst others to enhance nutritional values of the Nigerian citizens through the agricultural sector.
In that meeting Chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Bill gates urged Nigeria to adopt “innovative crop varieties with shorter growing periods, higher yields, and better pest resistance” pointing to the GMOs to address the food crisis.
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Moreover, at the 79th UN General Assembly in New York, VP Shettima reaffirmed to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the commitment of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu prioritizing health, nutrition, and agricultural development in Nigeria’s national agenda.
In a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima said: “we are deeply committed to addressing the pressing developmental challenges facing our nation, particularly the significant malnutrition crisis”.
He emphasised the Federal Government’s dedication and urgently working to secure locations for maize production under the Telemaze programme.
VP Shettima, promising swift action to the Gate’s Foundation on import permits for certified seeds, the VP said, “We recognize the critical importance of food security and industrial agricultural development. The Cassava Accelerator programme, in particular, holds immense potential for our economy.
“We are pursuing a whole-of-government approach to digitisation and data exchange systems, which we believe will revolutionise our public services,” he added while reiterating the government’s focus and commitment to digital transformation.
“With the expertise” of Nigeria’s ministers, “and the continued support of partners like the Gates Foundation,” the nation remains confident in its “ability to drive meaningful change and improve the lives of all Nigerians.”
In his response, President of the Global Development Programme at the Gates Foundation, Dr. Christopher Elias, said the Foundation is burdened with worries of the severe flooding in Borno, and is “committed to supporting Nigeria in times of crisis.”
Speaking of Polio, the Foundation said, “We’re impressed by the national task force’s efforts to eliminate variant polioviruses by year-end,” Dr. Elias noted.
Also, President of Global Growth & Opportunity Division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rodger Voorhies, detailed plans for scaling up drought-tolerant maize production and advancing the Nigeria Cassava Investment Accelerator programme emphasizing that a $5 million grant has been approved for Lagos Business School and partners to develop the agricultural economics of industrial cassava.
In his words, “Industrial cassava presents a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for Nigeria,” Voorhees stressed.
He requested import permits for 5,000 metric tons of certified GMO maize seed to build a foundation seed system in Nigeria.
Business
Managing, Leading, Building Institutions And Sustainability
The two primary tasks of a top-level leader are to exploit and explore the organisation with people for now and in the future.
By Babs Olugbemi
One of my concerns for leaders is their capacity to be ambidextrous. Regardless of years of experience, knowledge, and leadership capacity, the lack of a clear distinction between managing and leading on the one hand, leading and building institutions on the second layer, and ultimately focussing on sustainability is a significant threat to successful leadership change.
I have followed events and people at C-suites, coached some, and developed frameworks for leadership development. Based on the personalities and styles of the new leaders, I have confirmed my fears about leadership sustainability in most African organisations.
“Successful leaders can aptly differentiate themselves and their roles without necessarily seeing activities as performance, focussing on what is required of them with appropriate tenacity and influence.”
The challenge for leaders is how to lead for the present and future without losing sight of the stakeholders’ immediate performance expectations. Successful leaders can aptly differentiate themselves and their roles without necessarily seeing activities as performance, focussing on what is required of them with appropriate tenacity and influence.
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In my walk as a leadership coach, I have keenly observed leaders who are managing rather than leading. Managing involves ensuring that processes achieve their intended outcomes. Leaders are above managing and should focus on creating an enabling environment for innovation, inventions, and team collaboration. The primary role in leading is not to monitor process outcomes, though critical to the company’s overall objectives, but to align corporate values with the people’s aspirations to create an engaged and ownership-thinking mindset ready to take on challenges and explore opportunities. An alignment of corporate and personal goals will not only deliver the present performance expectations. Still, it will also incubate innovations to adapt to future market demands and the sustainability of the business.
Unfortunately, the capacity for ambidexterity is rare and often marked by leaders’ exposure, approach and styles, perception, and perspective of their roles in the organisation. A leader with a wrong foundation in these areas is set for failure and awaits unfavourable decisions from the board of directors. A top-level leader might manage their teams instead of leading them. Not all leaders can combine leading for the present with building institutions. However, anyone able to submit themselves to an institution-building mechanism can champion sustainability. Aside from being a leadership coach, I help leaders achieve sustainability.
Mathematically, creating an ambidextrous organisation is beyond leading. It is to lead and build an institution that focuses on sustainability in all aspects of the organisation—employee fulfilment, customer retention, strategy effectiveness, performance evaluation, stakeholder management, process improvement, and goal congruence.
In a nutshell, the role of successful leaders in ambidextrous organisations is striking a balance between exploiting current assets and capabilities to ensure short-term success and allocating enough energy and resources to exploration to ensure future viability. The two primary tasks of a top-level leader are to exploit and explore the organisation with people for now and in the future. The two seemingly contradictory aspects—exploitation and exploration—encompass different strategies and processes and have different targets and outcomes (March 1991; O’Reilly & Tushman, 2004; O’Reilly & Tushman, 2013).
O’Reilly and Tushman described the two concepts as follows:
- Exploiting: Exploiting involves building on an organisation’s achievements and maximising returns on previous investments. It focuses on responding to current business demands to remain efficient and competitive within an established market niche, as well as on maintaining an existing customer base and stakeholder relationships. Examples of exploiting are activities focused on continuous improvement, benchmarking, and redesigning business processes.
- Exploring: Exploring focuses on expanding an organisation’s knowledge and capabilities, pioneering new products and services, and discovering and venturing into untapped markets.
The common area of practical bottlenecks in exploiting and exploring in organisations is a need for foundational trust and cohesion among the resources, especially the human capital, which are often treated as costs rather than assets to the organisations. Among all the factors of production, only humans can be ambidextrous with the capacity to think about changes in economic parameters and adjust their behaviours to match the time, content, and contextual requirements.
While organisations might have the resources to deploy in fighting competition, technology to obtain first-mover advantages, and production capacity to maximise output from input, none is compared with the potential of an engaged workforce.
Therefore, for leaders to be successful, they must refrain from operating in the realm of managing. They should operate in the capacity of institution builders, with the mindset of creating sustainable leadership and growth with people first and other factors of production second.
Consequently, only the leaders who prioritise their people over profits, pride, and organisational arrogance will be successful in the long term.
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