Healthy Pleasure Group (HPG), the global outfit dedicated to sexual health and technology has launched Amboy Street Ventures (ASV), which it describes as the world’s first venture capital fund focused on sexual health for all genders and women’s health technology start-ups.
Amboy Street Ventures gets its name from the first US birth control clinic, which was opened at 46 Amboy Street in New York, in 1916 when prescribing and distributing information about birth control and contraception was illegal. This clinic marked a pivotal progression in the women’s health and sexual health space.
ASV’s first two investments are in Dame Products, the female-focused sexual wellness brand, and Gennev, the digital health platform for women in menopause, but ASV said it intends to cover all investment areas in the sexual and women’s health industry across medtech, femtech, sextech, healthtech, telehealth and wellness.
ASV is headed up by three female principals; Carli Sapir, Dominnique Karetsos, and Dr Maria Peraza Godoy who together bring over 50 years of investment, commercial, and medical experience to the Fund.
Carli Sapir said: “We believe billion dollar companies will emerge in order to bridge the gap between the underserved sexual and women’s healthtech space and the needs of today’s society. We are female investors who are living through the issues facing women. We know the potential to help drive the market and make genuine change happen.”
Dominnique Karetsos added: “From family planning to porn and the lack of anything in between, for too long our industry has been underserved. Amboy Street Ventures strives for consistency in education, innovation, and investment in the often overlooked sexual and women’s healthtech space. Our agenda is to bring about behavioural change and ultimately affect social change globally.”
ASV is focused on Seed and Series A investments in America and Europe. To learn more visit www.amboystreet.vc
