In 2019, the team at Bend-based Lora DiCarlo opened presales on the sex tech company's first product. In five hours they had $1 million in sales.
“We were hoping for $1 million for the entire presale and we made it in five hours. We had $3 million in presales in the first five weeks,” said founder and CEO Lora Haddock. The product, called Osé, officially launched January 2020.
“We had 2020 sales of $7.5 million and 50,000 units to date delivered (to consumers),” she said.
The company hasn’t slowed down since. It now has a team of 25 people, including in-house engineers who design the company’s complex robotics.
Now the company is launching an equity crowdfunding campaign on the Republic platform to open investment opportunity in the fast-growing company to more people.
It’s part of the company’s overall vision and mission to make sex tech, pleasure and sexual wellness destigmatized and inclusive of all bodies and identities.
Under new federal investing regulations, a company can raise up to $5 million through this type of equity crowdfunding. Lora DiCarlo’s goal is $25,000. The company has already raised roughly $7 million to date from investors. Two years ago it used an Opportunity Zones investment vehicle and last fall it raised another round from venture capitalists and angel groups.
Existing backers include a syndicate of high-network individuals through Republic, Romulus Capital, VU Fund and Gaingels. Actress and model Cara Delevingne is also an investor and now co-owner and creative director for the company.
“Lora DiCarlo has been a great investment and available to VCs and celebrities but now we have an opportunity and we want to democratize investing and allow all people to participate,” Haddock said.
The capital will be used to further grow and add new lines of business, such as wellness. Currently the company is focused on sex tech and it has five products available that use advanced robotics. The first product, Osé, was developed through a technology partnership with Oregon State University’s College of Engineering. The company still works with the school, though not as closely, and it has many more new products slated for this year.
“We are creating sex tech that allows people feel comfortable and explore sexuality with positivity and confidence,” Haddock said. “We are going to bring in wellness lines. The goal is to have a very holistic approach to sexual health and wellness.”
Haddock tried to keep manufacturing in Oregon or in the United States, but the product needed advanced capabilities around modeled plastic, electronic boards and silicone that wasn’t available locally. She uses contract manufacturers overseas.
The in-house engineering and product design is expensive, but Haddock said it is at the core of the company's mission.
The company sells direct to consumers in 37 countries. It also started selling to retailers and now has a footprint of 300 stores globally. Haddock hopes to launch in another 150 stores before the end of the second quarter.
“At VU Venture Partners, we are extremely selective with our investments. We source more than 18,000 deals per year, but only invest in roughly 0.1% of the companies sourced and reviewed. We are very pleased to have invested in Lora DiCarlo as one of our portfolio companies,” said Emily Tran of VU Fund in a written statement.
