BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Dame Products reports that it has closed $4 million in seed funding, raised to support its ongoing mission of "closing the pleasure gap."
In spite of a global health crisis, Dame says it experienced 100 percent growth year-over-year in 2020. Additionally, Dame also says it sold out of its 2020-launched product, Arc, within 72 hours, subsequently selling out three more times throughout the pandemic.
Dame often expresses its devotion to the fight for gender equality — the company is still actively suing the MTA for denying their right to advertise — as well as its commitment to educational programming by connecting experts with its community and curating sexual wellness advice and conversations from activists, sex educators, essayists and health experts on its digital platform, Swell.
Dame says it plans to build out a clinical advisory board composed of therapists, herbalists, doctors, and scientists to ensure the company’s offerings continue to be efficacious.
"Our society is finally beginning to accept and understand how sexual pleasure and pleasure products are an intrinsic part of our general health and wellness,” says Alexandra Fine, CEO and co-founder of Dame Products. "The more we can acknowledge the overall impact of sexual wellness, or the lack thereof, the more we'll continue to learn from each other’s experiences, allowing us to be better partners, better lovers and ultimately happier humans.
“I feel so invigorated by this newfound collective perspective and shared mind space that my investors bring; they believe in our mission and are ready to collaborate on what the future of pleasure should look like,” Fine added.
According to the company, Dame’s new financial resources will support further product expansion as well as ongoing efforts to build the Dame Labs community and funding strategic hires to help steer the company’s future. Dame says it will also continue to hold space for important dialogues about the intersection of sex, race and gender.
The recent $4 million round was led by Listen, with notable participation from women-run ventures like Chingona Ventures, The Community Fund, Her Capital, HP Reformation Ventures, IgniteXL Ventures, Joyance Partners and angels including Christiane Lemieux, Ashley Hartman, Kirstan Barnett and Sonia Nagar.
"As we've built a relationship with Alex over the last two years, we have been incredibly inspired by her ability to break down category barriers, facilitate meaningful conversations and fuel capital efficient growth,” said Kimmie Carey, principal at Listen. “We are thrilled to partner with Alex to amplify her authority as the female perspective on pleasure and build Dame Products as the go-to sexual wellness brand."