Sexual wellness enters the mainstream with the launch of new Lover app

A personalised Sexual wellness app has been launched with the aim of improving people’s sex lives.

Called Lover, the San Francisco-based start-up is aiming to take the taboo out of sexual wellness and stand out from rivals by providing practical, science-based strategies customised to each user’s sexual type.

“We want to do for sexual health what apps like Calm and Headspace have done for mental health – empower users, start a new conversation and move the subject into the mainstream,” says Jas Bagnieswki, co-founder and CEO.

In addition to Bagnieswki, Lover’s other two founders are CMO Nick Pendle, the entrepreneur who founded Eve Sleep plc, and Stanford psychologist Dr Britney Blair, who works as chief science officer. Blair is board-certified in sexual medicine and the founder of Northern California’s largest independent sexual health clinic.

Lover provides guidance in the form of video and audio content, plus exercises, games and a sexual profiling tool developed by Blair with a team of sexual medicine experts. This identifies users as one of 12 common sexual types to customise advice.

“People are hungry for better guidance on their sex lives and we want to deliver this, using knowledge based on the latest scientific research,” says Blair.

The start-up has announced a US$5m seed round led by Lerer Hippeau. Additional investors include Sean Rad, co-founder of Tinder; Manta Ray Ventures; Global Founders Capital; Fabrice Grinda and Jose Marin.

“As other areas of wellbeing, like mental health, shake off their stigma and enter the mainstream, we believe that sexual wellness is a natural extension of the conversation,” says Ben Lerer, managing partner of Lerer Hippeau.

Lover has a basic version free to download, a premium monthly subscription costing US$59.99 (£48, €54) per year, or a standard subscription for US$9.99 (€9, £8) per month. The app is available on iOS, with Android to follow.