British sex therapy app Blueheart has attracted €1 million of funding in a seed round led by PROfounders Capital and joined by Calm/Storm. The app offers pioneering sex and relationship therapy, designed by experts and based on the latest scientific research.
Blueheart, founded in 2019, aims to go far beyond the ‘wellness’ support offered by other platforms. Instead, their ambition is to provide evidence-based therapy sessions to address a wide range of sexual issues often seen as taboo.
The sessions, which are navigated digitally via audio and written materials, have been designed by world-renowned sex therapist Dr Katherine Hertlein, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy. Dr Hertlein joins Blueheart as their expert advisor.
The team behind Blueheart want to democratise access to high-quality help; making safe and scientifically-proven sex therapy available to anyone experiencing sexual dysfunction or anxiety, de-stigmatizing the practice in the process.
Blueheart supports users via three main areas: thought sessions, which focus on sexual fears and anxieties; body sessions, which centre around building a positive relationship with your body, both alone and with a partner; and connection sessions, which focus on how to communicate.
The vision is to have an inclusive platform that caters to all sexual orientations and gender identities, but for now they’re focused on women in relationships experiencing low libido, with a range of further sessions set to go live in the coming months. It’s estimated that 20-30% of women globally struggle with low libido (Peterson, Z., The Wiley Handbook of Sex Therapy (2017), p.12).
Sachin Raoul, Blueheart co-founder and CEO, decided to launch Blueheart after personal experience seeking out support for sex and relationship anxieties. He comments: “Sex plays a huge role in our lives; our intimate relationships are often our greatest source of joy. But they can also cause pain and distress. Despite this, sexual dysfunction is poorly addressed by existing digital platforms, particularly when compared to the proliferation of those focused on pleasure. At the same time, sex therapy is unaffordable for most people, despite being highly effective. That’s the gap Blueheart is bridging. We’re bringing something truly pioneering to the market and aiming to transform how we talk about and engage with the topic of sex in the process. Our ambition is to improve the sex lives of 100 million people. We’re delighted that PROfounders Capital and Calm/Storm saw the potential in this vision and are joining us for the next phase of this journey.”
The app was launched in beta phase last year and has already attracted several thousand users. This funding will be used to expand the available suite of therapy sessions and advance therapeutic research as well as the app’s AI capabilities to ensure each user receives the best possible experience.
Rogan Angelini-Hurll, General Partner at PROfounders Capital, will be joining the Blueheart board. He comments: “Blueheart immediately stood out to us. There’s a lot of noise in the wellness and ‘self-improvement’ market, but very few offerings focus on evidence-based solutions which match the efficacy of in-person therapy. What really excited us was that Blueheart caters for an enormous but invisible market which isn’t being served by anyone else. It’s a truly revolutionising product and stands to help a huge number of people. The founding team is also exceptional; we love their passion and shared ideals. PROfounders Capital is excited to embark upon this journey with Blueheart as they look to transform lives.”
Lucanus Polagnoli, co-founder of Calm/Storm Ventures adds: “Blueheart was one of our easiest investment decisions. Digitizing a proven methodology to tackle a global health crisis is compelling. It was the team, however, that made the cut. The quality of the team, the long-term vision and the overwhelmingly enthusiastic early user growth made Blueheart a “must do investment” for us. Really looking forward to working with Sachin and Robbie to finally make sex therapy affordable, taboo-free and accessible globally.”
via https://www.AiUpNow.com/ by contact@bcurdy.com, Khareem Sudlow
