Sexual wellness brand, maude, has closed on a recent funding round of $2.2 million, bringing its total seed financing to $3.7 million, the company said Tuesday. To date, maude has raised $4.2 million, with founder Éva Goicoche becoming one of only 60 Latinx women to raise more than $1 million in venture capital funding.
The raise was led by early stage venture capitalist fund, Cassius, with participation from U.K. consumer funds True, Outbound Ventures, Vice Ventures, and Patina Brands, who joined existing investors RRE and Tune House Capital. Additionally, actress Dakota Johnson has joined the company as investor and co-creative director. Accompanying angel investors include Benjamin Millepied, Steven Alan, and Cédric Aumonier.
This new funding follows a successful year for maude, which experienced 50 percent quarter over quarter growth in 2020, as demand for its $45 3-speed vibrator became a high-demand item during the pandemic, receiving more than 22,000 pre-orders since March.
The brand was launched in 2018 with four intimate essentials with the goal of destigmatizing the category with unassuming, gender-neutral personal wellness items. It expanded into the bath category in October 2019, followed by body care this year. To reach a wider generation of audiences, maude relaunched its educational content platform, themaudern.com, in June with two new verticals: The Essentials, targeting 18- to 25-year-olds and The Golden, for individuals over 45.
Maude is available direct-to-consumer at getmaude.com and within select retail partners across the U.S. and Canada.