Meet The Female Founder Who Just Raised $2.3 Million For Her Safe After-Sex Cleanup Product, Aiming To Destigmatize Conversations Surrounding Women’s Sexual Health

Like many founders, Frances Tang had a lot of jobs before becoming an entrepreneur — one of them was as a baker. There is a very common kitchen tool called a rubber spatula and it’s typically used to scrape all the last bits of cake batter out of a bowl (know where this is going…?). She searched for solutions to after-sex cleanup online, but most forums suggested using a sacrificial sex towel, which is great for the outside, but not the inside. Her hacked-together solution of toilet paper, crusty old t-shirts, towels, and showers simply wasn’t good enough. 

Armed with this knowledge and a sense of humor, she committed herself to create a solution. Not having a lot of resources, Frances Tang, founder and CEO of Awkward Essentials, did some research on what already existed in the space. She knew the product needed to absorb fluid more quickly than a tampon, which is designed to work over a period of many hours. It had to be safe and easy to insert and remove. When she got accepted into an accelerator program, she knew it was time to stop talking about it and start doing it. 

“I sat on the idea for years, but never told anyone about it since it was so odd. It wasn’t until a low point in my journey – my co-founder at a software startup had bailed on me – that I finally told a few friends. Their enthusiasm pushed me to consider taking it more seriously, as well as apply to an accelerator. During the program, when I first pitched my invention, I pitched it as any founder would — with numbers, statistics, and facts. It was an absolute trainwreck. I distinctly remember several faces in the room, with a look of open-mouthed, horrified shock. Pitching an after-sex cleanup invention with statistics apparently was a terrible idea. From this, I learned to change the narrative to a personal story entirely, addressing the problem that’s solved. It shifted how I talked about the product and our brand, and ultimately changed how I marketed the company. This voice is what has guided the brand and helped us secure first investment,” Tang shares with me. 

At that time, many of her cohort members didn’t understand what the product was or assumed it was something else entirely (a wipe, a suction machine?!). This pushed her to work differently than the typical startup path and instead of thoroughly proving a market before investing in the product, she went ahead and had the product produced first. “I decided to take a chance and order 20,000 dripsticks (the minimum!). That was in 2019,” she adds smilingly.

After dozens of iterations, the solution took the form of a small sponge with a handle. Insert the sponge in the vagina, swirl it around to absorb everything, and remove. No more extra fluids, dripping, smell, ruined underwear, or emergency trips to the bathroom.

For Tang, Awkward Essentials is all about making the messy, awkward moments less awkward and more comfortable. The company’s marquee product, dripstick, is a medical-grade sponge made to absorb excess fluid in the vaginal canal after sex — anyone who’s experienced the crossed-leg-ninja roll off the bed, penguin walk to the bathroom, and camp out on the toilet might benefit from this product. “I’m thrilled to have created something that so many reviewers have given a perfect 5-star rating, claiming that it’s a “life-changing” product.”

Over the last year, the brand has gone viral on social media, secured hundreds of five-star reviews, been mentioned in top-tier media, and was recently crowned a Digiday 2021 Future Leader Awards finalist. 

Today, Awkward Essentials announced the close of a $2.3 million seed round by capital partner Unorthodox Ventures. Based in Austin, Texas, Tang admits they have been huge supporters of the brand from the start. She found Unorthodox Ventures when she was doing her research about the companies investing in the sex tech space  — and sent a cold email to the founder, Carey Smith, pitching her product. They called her the next day. “Things moved very quickly after that!” 

As an Asian-American, female founder, it can be challenging to innovate in a space that takes the (awkward) bedroom topics into the boardroom. Venture dollars invested in sole female founders in 2020 represented 2.4% of overall venture funding. “Being able to work with a group like Unorthodox Ventures, who not only supports greater representation in the sextech and health spaces but also works to destigmatize these taboo topics, means so much to me. Now that dripstick is on the market, we’re working to develop new products for both men and women — anything you’ve ever needed help with but was ashamed to ask. Our goal is to sit in the awkward cracks of reality, so to speak. You can certainly expect additional hygiene products you never knew you needed coming down the pipeline soon. We promise to always deliver a healthy dose of awkwardness,” adds Tang. 

But, not everything has gone smooth for Tang in previous years, business-wise. While the industry as a whole is growing and becoming more open to the idea of sex and things that were once looked upon as taboo, we still have a long way to go. Tang’s business has seen a lot of judgment passed on from people behind computer screens. And let’s admit it – women are already facing enough challenges — working while homeschooling children, struggling to find time for self-care, and in many cases, not being taken as seriously as their male colleagues — so the last thing they need on top of all that (and more) is to be shamed for their choices in the bedroom. 

“I think there is a lot of opportunity for education as well — many women don’t understand their own bodies, which shouldn’t be the case. If our culture was more honest and open about sex education, there would be a better understanding of how our bodies work, how many holes we have, and products that may help provide additional comfort in uncomfortable situations,” Tang concludes.

With D2C and e-commerce increasing, there are more opportunities to educate on femtech companies and new products (which is super exciting for the growth of the industry). More funds are becoming open to sexual health/feminine hygiene as they realize they are missing out on a huge opportunity — almost everyone has sex. Women make up half the population. As the landscape shifts to funding more female founders, the potential for femtech is indeed limitless.