WoW Woman in FemTech | Nina Julie Lepique, Co-Founder and CEO of Femtasy
Interview by MarijaButkovic
Nina Julie Lepique is the Co-Founder and CEO of Femtasy. Before launching the global audio erotica brand, femtasy, Julie had always been interested in empowering women and the topics surrounding this. Coming from a business background, working for a large social networking company, Julie started looking at the sex industry and how it was going through a big revolution but felt that there was still very little content specifically being made for female needs. Julie wanted to create a brand that women could really identify and feel comfortable with.
Conversations with friends also highlighted how shame and taboo still surrounded female pleasure. Despite knowing herself that pleasure was crucial to true female empowerment Julie noticed a huge absence of content in the market created specifically for women and their desires. She decided to change that!
An entrepreneur at heart, Julie, and her partner Michael conducted over 1500 interviews with real women to understand what they truly desired and how they wanted their pleasure represented. Following this research, in 2018, when she was 24 years old, Julie and Michael launched an audio erotica platform, femtasy. Initially with 10 audio stories, since then, the femtasy library has grown to include over 1500 stories, ranging from gentle and romantic to rough and adventurous and now the launch of the UK/US version is an exciting step towards celebrating more pleasure for more women.
femtasy now has a strong committed user base; the brand is focused on destigmatising female self-love and making women happy physically as well as mentally. From the start Julie's ethos for femtasy is celebrating all bodies; everybody is beautiful and every pleasure is valid.
What is the idea behind Femtasy and how did you come up with it?
I’ve always been interested in female empowerment topics, I’m from a very classic business background though, used to work for a big social network. I realised that despite the sex industry going through a big revolution there was still no to very little content that is specifically made for female needs. I wanted to create a brand that women can identify and feel comfortable with
Also, I always felt like visual stimuli are much less important for females than for males and audio is a very emotional way to the brain hence why we created an audio erotica platform.
When did all start and how big is femtasy now?
It began with research (interviewing more than 1500 women about female sexuality) in 2017 - then the Platform with the first 100 audios went live in summer 2018. femtasy now has more than 1500 audios in two languages.
How long did it take you to be where you are now?
Around two years and countless hours of sweat, love, blood and tears :)
What was the biggest obstacle?
There was very little data available about female sexuality – a lot of wrong assumptions.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
Having a strong and very committed user base.
Making many women happy – not only physically but also mentally.
Being featured heavily in German-speaking media and helping to destigmatize female self-love.
What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the niche you are in? How about being a female founder/entrepreneur?
Traditional innovation and investment are led by patriarchal structure but I'm proud to be part of the collective of women that are leading the change with innovation that puts our sexual health and pleasure as a priority. It takes more than a village, it takes sophisticated customers with the power of the purse and spends to demand that their needs no longer go underserved and ignored.
What are the projects you are currently working on?
In the last couple of months, we have been focused on team growth – we grew from 10 team members to approx. 30 right now. Our next big step is internationalization.
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Women form 50% of the population and yet very few are involved in actually shaping the items, devices, and tech which in turn shape their, or rather our everyday life. This is why it’s important to me to be part of this movement, to be seen and show it’s possible. Pioneering and creating products that are created with a female first lens.
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there?
Find your peer group early. Having a trusted circle with which you can share all ups, all downs, all challenges, and all achievements really meant the world to me over the last couple of months and years. I entered a group of entrepreneurs and I did not only find really good friends there but also solved some major challenges together and overcame some obstacles with the help of the group.
What will be the key trends in the health tech and fem tech industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?
Last year the global femtech market generated $820.6 million and is estimated to reach at least $3 billion by the end of 2030! Even with this growth it still remains an underdeveloped area of health tech. In the next few years, I can imagine that fem tech will be even more focused on women’s health, focusing on menopause and general wellbeing.
Who are your 3 inspirational women in health tech or fem tech?
1. Ida Tin, founder of CLUE
2. Lea-Sophie Cramer, founder of Amorelie
3. Ann-Sophie Claus, founder of The Female Company
Follow Femtasy on their website and Instagram!
This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder, and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic.