Modern Intimacy Brand maude Closes $5.8M in Series A Funding for Sexual Wellness in the Beauty Industry

maude closes funding in a round led by beauty and wellness investment fund True Beauty Ventures with notable participation by Fable Investments, WME, and UK consumer fund True.

maude (getmaude.com), is a modern and inclusive sexual wellness company taking on the legacy industry, announced the close of a $5.8M Series A—a first for a consumer sexual health-only company. To date, the brand has successfully raised $10M over four rounds of venture-backed funding. The raise was led by True Beauty Ventures—a beauty and wellness-focused fund that grows early-stage brands in the beauty and wellness space—and includes notable participation from Fable Investments (the parent company of Aesop and The Body Shop), UK consumer fund True, and media company William Morris Endeavor.

maude launched in April of 2018 and was founded by Éva Goicochea after successful careers in healthcare legislation and brand strategy (early employee at Everlane). One of only 15 Latinx women to raise over $7M in VC funding, Goicochea was chosen as one of Entrepreneur magazine’s first-ever 100 Powerful Women in 2019, WWD’s 60 Power Players in Health and Wellness in 2020, and in 2021, she was selected as one of Forbes Next 1000. As a part of this raise, maude’s board will now be entirely female and majority Latina with Cristina Nuñez (True Beauty Ventures) and Paola Felipak (Fable) taking seats.

“Before we launched, the sexual wellness industry could be defined by the ubiquity of the experience, be it on shelf or online: The confusing over-assortment and opaque quality standards, inflated pricing (particularly on devices), and the tired, gendered tropes of how to sell “sex”. Through accessible design and fair pricing, we’re here to set the new standard in the category. We stand out as the only company that focuses on modern intimacy—for all people,” says Goicochea.

Uniquely positioned in a highly-gendered industry, maude’s approach to sexual health centres on share-care—self- and partner-focused essentials that promote everyday intimacy routines across sex, bath, and body. In early 2021, the company released its latest device, drop—an all-body massager, along with a new scent collection. These launches further its commitment to making sexual wellness synonymous with self-care.

“Sexual wellness has long been the last frontier in personal care, but the customer expects better, ” Goicochea says. “Like in beauty, we believe in taking an integrated and holistic approach—not a compartmentalised view of sex. At our core, we’re an evergreen brand thoughtfully built for the every day of your entire adult life.”

This funding round will be used to further position maude as a leader both within the sexual wellness and personal care industries—growing their team as well as its product line and content platform. This raise follows a successful year for the early-stage company —who experienced 50% growth QoQ, had over 25,000 pre-orders for its best-selling vibe, and announced actor Dakota Johnson as a Co-Creative Director.

 

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In addition, the raise will support the expansion of maude into international markets and in additional key retailers in 2021 and 2022. The category-defining brand grew its portfolio of luxury retailers in the first half of 2021—launching in Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Saks.com with upcoming launches at Canadian retailer SSENSE.

In just three short years, maude has been internationally recognised—having been featured in 800+ pieces of press in over 25 countries. The company was named a 2019 CircleUp25 award winner—establishing itself as a consumer brand to watch, joining alumni like Glossier and Harry’s.

On the future, Goicochea said: “Through and through, we’re people-first and our success is just as much about resonating with our customer as it is about creating a healthy internal culture driven by our shared values and vision for what’s ahead. Our mission is to continue to build strong brand affinity and a solvent business (we’ll be profitable in 2022) that changes the culture of sexual wellness—forever.”

This round of investors joins existing funds RRE, CASSIUS, Tune House Capital, Outbound Ventures, Vice Ventures, and Patina Brands—and angels including Benjamin Millepied, Steven Alan, and Cédric Aumonier. Advisors include Anna Sedgley, former CFO, Dow Jones; Gene Han, former Vice President of New Ventures, Target; Jennifer Conti, MD, OB/Gyn Stanford University School of Medicine and co-author, The Vagina Book, and Donald Wilson, Ph.D., NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and co-author, Learning to Smell.