Looks like sex tech startup Lora DiCarlo is done for
- ByStartupStory | December 3, 2022
Lora DiCarlo, a sex tech startup that grabbed a lot of attention in 2019 after it got blacklisted from the Consumer Electronics Show, seems to have shut down. The company’s website is currently offline and reportedly orders haven’t been completed for months.
The company was founded in 2017 and was one of a new wave of tech-forward sexual health companies headed up by women. It won an innovation award at CES 2019. Quoted by TechCrunch “a hands-free device that uses biomimicry and robotics to help women achieve a blended orgasm by simultaneously stimulating the G-spot and the clitoris.”
But then the Consumer Technology Association, which runs CES, withdrew the award and banned the company from exhibiting at the show. Their explanation at the time was that neither the company nor its devices “fit a product category.” Predictably, this attracted immediate blowback and allegations of sexism, prudery, and generally bad judgment. Everyone was on Lora DiCarlo’s side, and the publicity was invaluable, she later told TechCrunch at Disrupt: “I think they actually did us a pretty big favor.” The company raised $2 million around that time and about $9 million total over its five years of operation.
But despite a big return to the show in 2020 (and a coveted TC+ feature, of course), the company seems to have stumbled during the pandemic. Their failure might be due to the chip shortages and manufacturing problems even established hardware makers encountered.
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