Startup Series: Blueheart - democratising access to sex therapy
The internet gave people a place to learn about sex autonomously, not just through family, friends and traditional education. Insight into how others feel and think about sex has created more openness around the topic. With this came a deeper understanding of sexual psychology, and as Sachin Raoul and Robbie Coomber started to look into this rather taboo topic, they discovered that billions of people were suffering in silence.
Author
Antler
Given we all face challenges that therapy is well-placed to help with, why don't more people access it? For the majority of people, therapy can be extremely expensive, not everyone can take time off work or studies, and to some, there is still an aspect of taboo related to seeing a therapist. With the rise of digital therapy, the access threshold and cost will get lower. As it does, hundreds of millions of people will have therapy available to them on their phones.
This is where Blueheart comes in with their digital sex therapy app: to lower the thresholds and fight the stigma. The less than a year-old company, which Antler UK invested in last year and who recently closed a ~£1m round, launched their app in beta phase last year and has already attracted several thousand users.
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 100m people.
— SACHIN RAOUL, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF BLUEHEART
Sachin Raoul and Robbie Coomber found each other through our first UK Cohort in 2019. Before joining Antler, Sachin, co-founder and CEO, built a B2B software in agriculture investing before moving into technology & investments. Robbie is a full stack developer with over 10 years of experience, with a bachelor in Computer Science from University of Cambridge. As a team, they bring the perfect balance of technical innovation and commercial expertise.
Together, the team is taking the lead on digital sex therapy that identifies the issue, develops a personalized treatment plan and walks you step by step through therapy - without any human involvement. For the millions of people struggling with sexual dysfunction, Blueheart offers quality therapy in a way that is accessible, affordable and shame-free that has never been achieved before.
Blueheart was one of our easiest investment decisions. Digitising a proven methodology to tackle a global health crisis is compelling.
— LUCANUS POLAGNOLI - MANAGING PARTNER & CO-FOUNDER OF CALM/STORM VENTURES
Interested in hearing more about Blueheart and their journey? Sign up to our online event where Sachin and Lucanus from Calm/Storm Ventures will be talking about how they met and what made them team-up. You can find the registration page here.
