Dame is the sexual wellness company on a mission to bridge the pleasure gap by developing products to do so … [+]
lady, the sexual wellness company with a mission to bridge the pleasure gap by developing products designed for pleasure, today announces a $7 million Series A funding round led by Amboy Street Ventures, in which Listen Ventures, Flybridge, Echo and the Forest Road Company participate, bringing the Dame’s total capital raised to US$13 million. With this funding, the company also announces a lady-quality vibe at a more affordable price – Dip, a non-intimidating, all-encompassing introduction to pleasure for people who are in the early stages of their sexual wellness journey.
This announcement follows Dame’s momentum in the cultural zeitgeist over the past year, fueled by initiatives such as the launch of several initiatives New Productssettle down with the NYC MTA to run ads on the subwayhelp with the start Sephora’s intimate hygiene categoryand introduction of a Clinical Board to further advance the narrative that sexual health is a key contributor to overall well-being and to create credibility in the space, to name a few.
The funding will be used to further the company’s focus on maintaining a loyal customer base and exploring new categories for a wider audience with more accessible and refillable products, and to further expand its retail presence. Currently, Dame is worn by Sephora, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, and Free People, among others. Dame has doubled its wholesale business every year for the past two years, with 20% of consumers learning about the brand through its retail partners.
Alexandra Fine, co-founder and CEO of Dame
“Checkers started at my kitchen table in 2014 with some silver coins and plastic wrap. I had an idea for a vibrator that could be worn during intercourse, which in turn could help close the body lust gap – the disparity in satisfaction that people with vulvas experience in the bedroom compared to their male cis counterparts “first truly wearable vibrator for couples,” begins her story Alexandra Fine, Founder and CEO of Dame.
Dame then made history when Eva raised over half a million dollars on Indiegogo, and that success led to the development of Fin, a wearable finger vibrator, which was the first sex toy ever allowed to launch on Kickstarter. Within a year, they sold more than 10,000 vibrators for over $1 million in sales.
“Dame is bringing the sexual wellness category into the mainstream by breaking down industry-wide hurdles,” shares Carli Sapir, founding partner of Amboy Street Ventures. “Sexual pleasure and well-being is arguably the most stigmatized subset of our space — and when that stigma is removed from sexual health and women’s health; Research, funding and solutions will flow into this underserved area. Dame uncompromisingly breaks down the shame surrounding sexual well-being and has found incredible fit for the product market in the process.”
Dame’s Series A funding round demonstrates the appetite and potential in the sexual wellness market that is expected to be reached $125.1 billion by 2026. Led by CEO Alexandra Fine, Dame has secured this round at a time when venture funding has fallen sharply across the board – particularly for female founders.
Dame was one of the first brands to really care about the pleasure of people with vulvas
“The sexual wellness market is growing by the day, which is amazing given the resistance we’ve seen over the past few years,” adds Fine. “We’re so proud to be part of an empowering intimacy movement, and we hope that our newest product, Dip, will open that door for even more people to connect with themselves.”
Additionally, Lady Labs (the company’s research arm focused on getting real feedback on Dame Products’ innovations) has over 10,000 members of all genders. They play a crucial role in providing Dame’s team with product feedback from real people from all walks of life.
With this capital injection and product expansion, Dame continues its work to normalize and promote pleasure as part of overall well-being. With steady online e-commerce growth of 100% YoY, Dame aims to expand to provide more touchpoints, from investing in educational content with its Clinical Board to promoting its retail presence and prioritizing customer engagement to build a lasting community create.
“Retail is a huge investment channel for us and we’ve seen growth this year and look forward to more. We’ve been able to double our wholesale business every year for the past two years, so we want to focus on growing that part of the business as well,” concludes Fine.
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