Pleasure Tech is Becoming Big Business
Sex is everywhere these days – in our newsfeeds, on our tv-screens, in the product ranges of our favorite beauty retailers. The growing popularity of the subject, in conjunction with stronger LGBTQI-rights, is a driving factor behind the rapidly growing sexual wellness market, which is estimated to reach USD 112 Billion by 2030.
It seems not long ago that sex was a topic off limits. Not least for investors, shunning any connection to an industry once seen as nothing more than a dirty outlet for male vices. And while lingering taboos still affect how investors view the sexual wellness market, according to newsweek.com, it’s changing rapidly.
There are several factors contributing to the paradigm shift. Sex – with yourself or with others – is becoming more widely accepted as vital to our physical and mental wellbeing; stronger rights for the LGBTQI community has led to a substantial increase in demand for sexual wellness products like lubricants, delay sprays, and vibrators; and the pandemic served as a breeding ground for new and innovative ways to connect as well as digital services providing sexual health tracking and counselling. The industry – once almost totally male dominated – is being reinvented and modernized by women with a more holistic focus on sexual wellness. And the market is growing: valued at USD 77 billion in 2021, it’s expected to reach USD 112 Billion by 2030, according to Market Research Future.
Meanwhile, sex has also become a hot topic on our screens (Sex Education, Sex/Life), podcasts and lifestyle sites (goop.com, intothegloss.com), hinting at a growing interest in having an authentic conversation about sex and sexual wellness.
It shouldn’t surprise us – sex is a universal need, that transcends gender as well as racial and socioeconomic boundaries. And while the industry previously catered primarily to men, the growing market nowadays provide products for a range of target groups and needs. Sexual wellness companies provide products ranging from more classic sex toys to educational platforms, sexual wellness apps, hands-free devices for people with disabilities, contraceptive delivery services, erotic literature, digital services for relationship and sex counselling, products enhancing intimacy and pleasure, and more.
And as the general public grows more open to sex tech and sexual health products, so does investors. According to Forbes, many of them cited the promise of an untapped market – women – as contributing to their interest. Forbes also lists crowdfunding as a possibility to get a strong product or idea to market without substantial backing. Another factor supporting the market is that technical advances have made it easier to prototype products, allowing start-ups to attract investor attention.
Some venture capital funds view the sexual wellness market as more than just an investment opportunity. “We started investing in sex tech 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”, Gerda Larsson, co-founder and managing director at The Case for Her, says to Forbes.
Whether just a sound investment or an act of defiance against the taboo concerning women and sex, the sexual wellness market is heading down the same path as other, previously frowned upon or taboo areas – such as online dating or cannabis – taking it from the outskirts of the internet and into the mainstream, with both demand and financial backing following suit.
The change is driven by developing attitudes towards sex. According to stifted.com, 84 percent of US adults view masturbation as a form of self-care.
And while the market is more mature in the US than in Europe, there’s no doubt that the rise of the sexual wellness industry is spreading across the globe.