This Millennial Erectile Dysfunction Company is Already Worth $200 Million
“Viagra, but for hipsters” sounds like a get-quick-rich scheme, but it turns out to be a legitimate multi-million-dollar idea. Direct-to-consumer erectile dysfunction and hair loss brand Hims is now valued at $200 million after raising $40 million in funding, according to Wired. Even more notable than that massive $200 million figure is the rate Hims accumulated it. The brand launched on November 1st, and has already sold $10 million worth of its products. Hims launched to serious side-eye across the internet for trying to make erectile dysfunction generically trendy, but $10 million in sales speaks to the difference elite millennial branding can make—and the desire for these products among younger guys.
The Hims marketing campaign features trendy hallmarks like minimal branding, a beige that looks like millennial pink’s equally chill brother, and succulents that stand in for phalluses. But it’s more than just the marketing that appeals to millennials. It turns out this is an audience actually in dire need of a kick in the pants in this department: 25 percent of men start losing their hair before 21 and the same percentage are affected by ED. Now, they get the slumped-over-cacti marketing that appeals to them.
And it’s not Hims alone that’s taken advantage of this boom—other millennial-focused erectile dysfunction and hair loss prevention brands like Roman and Keeps have both cropped up alongside Hims. A change in “telehealth” laws last year made it possible for patients to get prescribed medicine without an in-person visit, coupled with the fact Viagra struck a deal making it possible for companies to sell generic versions of the medication. Hair loss and erectile dysfunction are already sore subjects for guys, and the old solution—ducking into the doctor office to ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex—is, understandably, a massive hurdle standing between guys and ED medicine.
It's notable, though, that while Hims is making money at warp-speed, the rate is not rare among successful direct-to-consumer brands that are attempting to scale as fast as they take in cash. Warby Parker famously hit its first-year sales goal in under three weeks. Mattress innovators Casper made $100 million during its first full year in business. Allbirds, the wool shoes all over your Facebook feed, claims it did five times what it expected to do in revenue its first year. The point is: by undercutting the competitor’s prices and splattering trendy millennial-friendly ads all over social networks, these brands can make a killing quickly—and they need to in order to satisfy investors that are now putting down $40 million sums. It’s easy to joke about companies that sell themselves as the Warby Parker of X—but we never really thought the X would be boner pills.
More broadly, the success of Hims is a sign that the way we buy stuff across the board is changing dramatically. There is no product too bizarre or too everyday or too we-thought-we-had-this-figured-out to be dressed up in millennial clothing and floated across our social feeds. Hims’ promise is no different than ones made by other successful direct-to-consumer brands: anything can be disrupted— your mattress, your eyeglasses, your T-shirt—and made perfect, cheaper, or simpler to buy. Promises of disruption and solutions are like, well, Viagra for investors who are helping turn the now $200-million Hims into the next unicorn.