Porn startup Cheex reports 100,000 subscriptions

Porn, erotic audio plays and workshops for women - that's what the Berlin-based platform Cheex offers. According to the start-up's own information, the concept generates sales in the millions.

The erotic start-up Cheex now has just under 100,000 users. This is what founder Denise Kratzenberg tells us in an interview with Gründerszene. Users pay between €9.90 and €14.90 a month for the porn service. In the meantime, this has apparently generated revenues in the millions.

In April 2021, the start-up was able to close a seed financing round in the seven-digit euro range. The exact amount is not known. Among the investors are business angels such as Claire Davidson, inventor of the Urbanara furniture store, and Wefox co-founder Fabian Wesemann. Founded by Denise Kratzenberg and Maximilian Horwitz in 2020, the startup's product is a platform with erotic content aimed at a female target group. "Our core question was: how could women be more sexually liberated," Kratzenberg tells Gründerszene. The founders offer content that they claim is produced fairly and is more authentic than on traditional erotic platforms.

The funding round was apparently not easy. "VCs often have statutes that they are not allowed to invest in porn," founder Denise Kratzenberg told Gründerszene. As a result, the startup has to rely on private investors, which limits growth and the size of follow-on rounds.