NEW YORK — Women of Sex Tech, the New York-based organization founded by Unbound CEO and co-founder Polly Rodriguez and House of Plume’s Lidia Bonilla, has created an online community with the launch of WomenOfSexTech.com.
According to the website, Women of Sex Tech is “an inclusive community of sex-positive women changing the sex tech industry.” The website’s directory lists professional women in a variety of roles that promote sex positivity — some of which were profiled in a recent article in the New York Times titled “Women of Sex Tech, Unite.”
The New York Times article defined the budding organization as a “tech-savvy and female-led women’s sexuality movement that has made its home in New York instead of, say, Silicon Valley. Women, many of them under 40, are updating sex toys and related products with their own needs in mind, and leading the companies that sell them.”
After meeting in 2015, Bonilla and Rodriguez bonded over their shared experiences as female entrepreneurs in the male-dominated sex tech industry where they’ve faced challenges in opening bank accounts, getting investors and purchasing ads on social media.
“Instead of giving up, they decided to create a community with other female founders who were facing similar challenges,” the organization says on its About page. “What started as a small group quickly grew into a movement.”
Today, Women of Sex Tech represents artists, creators, entrepreneurs, journalists, educators, innovators and engineers in more than six cities globally. The group has held multiple events in New York, including a pop-up marketplace for sex tech startups and a panel discussion on sexual health policy.
Rodriguez told XBIZ that she hopes WomenOfSexTech.com will serve as a resource “by creating a community of women + femme identifying individuals who want to change the stigmas associated with female sexuality and supporting each person in their pursuit.”
As for the criteria to join the organization, Rodriguez says it welcomes professionals from different fields that share Women of Sex Tech’s vision.
“Women can join if their values align to our mission and are working on changing the stigmas with a focus on increased access to information,” Rodriguez said. “We specifically break down the groups into: education, art and business, so based on the area of interest you join a sub-category.”
For more information, visit WomenOfSexTech.com.
