Sex tech. It's estimated to be a $30 billion industry. It's also an area of the startup space that doesn't give as much love (no pun intended) as it should to women. Especially when it comes to female founders.
The sex-tech sector is completely dominated by men (surprise?), which means the majority of products and services within this space primarily benefit straight male pleasure, while bypassing the sexual needs of women and those within the LGBTQ community. Verping, hands-free wanking, and under the radar, over the internet purchases of Asian sex trafficking are all popular forms of commerce in this space.
Then there's Roxxxy, a sex robot - designed for men, of course. In the true form of everything you'd expect from this special group of sex tech trailblazers, Roxxxy was modeled after a college-age Caucasian woman, wears a C-cup, stands at 5'7, weighs 120 pounds, and has a BMI just high enough to still be considered a healthy for a 'human'. Roxxy's admirable qualities include learning the sexual preferences of her male counterpart, her inability to move from the position she is placed in, and can even say 'I love you' if by some chance, you need some real, human intimacy.
Clearly this space lacks sexual progression. Which is where women and non-binary people come in. Women and non-binary founders are revolutionizing the sex-tech experience - literally, developing sex positive communities and products that are advancing women and non binary people's relationships with their own bodies, as well their sexual engagements with other bodies.
Below we've listed some of the most revolutionary sex tech companies that are shaking the system up. Some of these organizations are educational, some of them are pleasure based, but all of them are putting the experiences of women and nonbinary people at the center of the sexual equation.
Dame Products
Hands-free, non-intrusive clitoral stimulation? Sign us up! Dame is giving women the opportunity to find their way past the orgasm gap and into a small slice of heaven through their products Fin and Eva II.
Eva II and Fin are external vibrating products that are placed on a woman's clitoris during sex. Thanks to this hands-free technology, women and their partners can focus on the other aspects of sex, while ensuring a pleasurable experience.
The company, founded by two women - Alexandra Fine, a clinical psychologist concentrating in sex therapy, and Janet Lieberman, an MIT engineer - crowd-sourced their way into production. The company was originally aiming for $50,000 in funding, but generated over $860,000 on Indegogo. Looks like a lot of other women were excited to get this product in the market too! Since their massive success, Dame has donated one dollar of each product sold to preventing female genital mutilation in Africa.
Cycles And Sex
Do you have residual, outstanding questions about sex or your body that didn't get covered in your junior high health class? Enter Cycles and Sex, a shame-free, bi-weekly newsletter and website with with tips from experts and mind-blowing facts about your body that you can share at dinner parties (ultimate adulting goals).
The Cycles and Sex website even comes with a 'search' button where you can type in your questions about anything from reproductive health, to questions about sexuality, fertility, cycles, brith control, policies and identities. Cycles and Sex also hosts legit awesome events in LA and NYC throughout the year. This is an Instagram you're going to want to follow!
The Verboden
Three out of four women experience pain during intercourse at some point in their lives. Sometimes the symptoms don't last for very long, but sometimes the symptoms can last for years. Though it's important to speak with a doctor to better understand why you might be experiencing painful sex on in individual level, the conversation around painful sex for women at large is a real and largely unaddressed issue.
Verboden is here to provide context and a solution around that issue. The CBD-based beautyfood and sex brand specializes in tincture solutions across a range of health areas. For those suffering from vulvar irritations - pain around or in the vulva due to irritants like chemicals used in body wash, fabrics, vaginal dryness and yes, even sex - Verboden offers MACK Lube / Massage Oil.
MACK Lube alleviates pain and irritation by increasing the elasticity of vaginal and vulvar tissues, making your sexual experiences very, VERY pleasurable. Extra points if you add the No 'Triflin Truffles to your newfound adventures (trust us...they are delicious!)
Pop Dildo
Pop Dildo is revolutionizing intercourse for all peoples. Started by the woman-founded, LGBTQ-inclusive company, Berman Innovations, Pop Dildo is a strap on that has removable inner tubing inside the dildo shaft with an attached pump, allowing users to mimic intercourse and ejaculation.
Pop opens up sexual connectivity for communities who might otherwise not have that option for this kind of intimacy, including same-sex couples, the transgender community, mixed-status couples, men suffering from erectile dysfunction or other disabilities, and those interested in BDSM, pegging or other forms of sexual exploration. Perhaps the coolest byproduct of this empowering product, is that lesbian couples can conceive - yes CONCEIVE - their children at home through its use.
Make Love Not Porn
It's impossible to talk about Make Love Not Porn (MLNP) without talking about its revolutionary founder, Cindy Gallop. Gallop is a known figure in the sex tech world, using her high-profile platform as a former advertising executive to spread the message of sex positivity.
Gallop started MLNP after dating several men in their 20s (get it, Girl). She realized men's pornographic experiences made their sexual performances, well, a performance - a potentially inadequate, unsatisfying, and harmful performance, at that.
MLNP.tv seeks to alleviate many of the misgivings about misogynistic sexual ideas and practices through its simple message of being pro-sex, pro-porn and pro-knowing the difference. As a crowdsourced platform, MLNP invites couples and people to upload their own, porn-trope free, videos showcasing #realworldsex. In addition to sharing yours, you can see others. Rates include $5 rentals that give you three weeks of unlimited views, and 50% of profits from all videos you upload.
Future Of Sex
Bryony Cole launched the Future Of Sex podcast in 2016. It has since grown to become one of the leading sources of sex tech forecasting. information and development.
On the Future Of Sex podcast, Cole uses sex positivity as the basis for her thought leadership, exploring breakthrough trends, human sexuality, and the sex tech industry at large through this lens. Immersive events, hackathons, sex tech accelerators, and exploratory labs are just part of the overarching opportunities the Future Of Sex has built out as part of its mission to help up-and-coming sex tech companies have the support, space and opportunity to develop their new ideas into existence. And that might be a very, very good thing for all of us.