Amsterdam’s Quinky aims to be the “Duolingo for sex” for Gen Z; raises funding from Antler

Amsterdam-based Quinky is a new startup that aims to make sex education fun and accessible to everyone through the app. 

Quinky, which aims to be “the Duolingo” for sex for Gen Z over 18 years old, becomes the first European sex tech startup to secure funding from Antler. It raised €100k in its first round in February 2023. 

“Quinky, being backed by a VC the size of Antler means the importance of our mission and the urgency to capitalise on a thirsty and large market. With their support, Quinky will be on a fast track to build a solution that spreads a positive and healthy approach to sex,” says Mariia Plotkina, founder and CEO of Quinky to Silicon Canals. 

Quinky: Pioneering safe & engaging approach to sex education

Founded by Mariia Plotkina (CEO) and Neahme Jbaily (CTO), Quinky is on a mission to provide Gen Z with a safe and fun space to communicate about sex, and consent, and explore their sexuality with personalised games. 

“According to studies, GenZ mostly get their sex education from porn, Googling or social media – but none of those resources helps when they have real, applicable questions,” says Plotkina.

She continues, “Also, GenZ is the generation that has the most awkwardness when it comes to relationships because many of them stepped into their dating prime during COVID times – and the recession took a significant toll on them.” 

While therapy-based communication apps exist for improving partner interactions, they primarily cater to millennials, leaving Gen Z without science-backed and engaging avenues for sexual education and entertainment.

Having worked closely with Gen Z for over eight years and having a deep understanding of effective communication with this crowd, Quinky’s CEO, Mariia Plotkina, recognised the need to revolutionise sex education for young adults. 

Finding her cofounder

Motivated by her idea to fill in the gap in sexual education with her own company, Plotkina headed to the Netherlands and applied for the Antler programme. Unfortunately, she failed at her first attempt. But her persistence helped her get into the cohort. 

That’s when she met Neahme Jbaily, a serial entrepreneur originally from Lebanon, a country where sex is still a taboo topic and no education in the area of sexual wellness was available. Neahme quickly fell in love with Plotkina’s dea and they started working on Quinky together.

What sets Quinky apart from others

Quinky sets itself apart from other platforms by placing utmost importance on delivering content of the highest standards. 

The company does this by partnering with renowned sexologists, including Laura Vowels, a former advisor at Blueheart, Quinky’s major competitor in the United States. 

Each task or game at Quinky is verified by a professional, unlike the content that can be found on social media or in porn, according to Plotkina. 

Quinky provides games that cater to individuals of all sexualities, genders, and relationship statuses, promoting inclusivity and diversity. 

Talking about inclusive content, Plotkina says, “When developing the tasks, we agreed to make our games as diverse as possible. We designed games for all relationship statuses and developed tasks for all groups of LGBTQIA+ people, as well as aromantic and asexual people.” 

“We have tasks for solo use, for couples, for polyamorous groups – and we are constantly collecting feedback from all categories of users to make the tasks even more inclusive. Moreover, we have an LGBTQIA+ activist on the team, and we go through the tasks together to ensure they are inclusive for all,” she adds. 

Further, the platform presents its content in a bite-sized game format, making improving sexual wellness fun and engaging, taking inspiration from the popular language learning app Duolingo.

Plotkinan says, “Most apps that provide advice for sex and relationships are focused on couples – and Quinky knows that a healthy sex life starts with yourself!” 

“That’s why on Quinky we have ideas for solo games and pre-dating ideas, as mostly Gen-Z are stuck in situationships now trying to find answers on how to communicate about dating and sex,” she adds. 

By addressing these distinct needs and providing a safe, entertaining, and comprehensive sex education platform, Quinky aims to empower and educate individuals on their journey towards sexual well-being.

To accelerate its community development, the Amsterdam startup started working with interns from the University of Florida, Amsterdam and Spain.

As a result, the first MVP was tested on 700 students in the first week. 

Partnerships and collaborations

Quinky has been quick to forge partnerships with sustainable sex cosmetics brands as well as charities. “We choose to collaborate with brands to share our values: sexual education for all, sexual wellness is a great contributor to overall health and well-being,” says Plotkina. 

Sharing an example of partnering with charities, Plotkina tells us about Quinky working with Share Network, an organisation helping women who suffered from sexual violence reclaim their sexual agency. 

The company also works with sustainable sex cosmetics brands like aia*, and HANX. 

Breaking taboos around sex

Mariia Plotkina says Quinky’s long-term mission is to break sex taboos. 

“We want people to have a more enjoyable and healthier sexual life. We want people to feel empowered in their own sexuality and experience all the benefits of a fulfilled love life while being safe,” she says.  

“The first step of getting there starts by being the go-to in learning about sex and answering any question that you think is stupid – for example, teaching people about the essentials of consent, sexually transmitted diseases, personal hygiene, cleanliness, and other facts.” 

Quinky plans to release the app this summer. 

“We want to create a pathway in which we become the first place people think of when talking about sexual education,” concludes Plotkina.