From an online platform for luxury jewelry rental to a connected pillow that lets you hear your partner's heartbeat, we rounded up 50+ startups bringing tech to your Valentine's Day plans.
It’s Valentine’s Day, and the love — and consumer cash — is flowing.
This February 14th, Americans are expected to spend some $30B on Valentine’s Day gifts and activities, with the most popular gifts including candy (which 52% of people plan to buy), greeting cards (44%), flowers (35%), and a romantic night out (34%).
In honor of the holiday, we rounded up 53 VC-backed startups across a range of romantic categories, including flowers, chocolate, sex tech, and more. See the full category breakdown below.
Our market map includes active, private companies only. All companies fit our definition of tech companies, with the exception of some chocolate companies. Please click to enlarge.
Category breakdown
Dating apps — Companies in this category are leveraging tech to help you find your future Valentine. Bumble is a dating and social app that requires women to send the first message to men they match with, while Happn is a hyperlocalized location-based dating app. Blued, the top-funded company in this category ($132M in total disclosed funding), is a China-based dating app for men.
Wedding — These wedding platforms help couples plan their weddings, book vendors, register for gifts, send invitations, and more. WeddingWire ($375M in funding) and Zola ($141M) are 2 of the 3 top-funded companies on the map.
Jewelry & watches — For those who appreciate the finer things, these startups offer jewelry and watches in a variety of ways. Chronext operates a curated online market for new and secondhand luxury watches; Flont allows members to rent fine jewelry; and Gemmyo sells made-to-order pieces online.
Restaurant recommendations — This category includes companies that help you book a romantic dinner, from discovering new restaurants to making a reservation. The Resy mobile app lets diners view restaurant guides, rate restaurants, and make reservations, while SoftBank-backed Mango Plate offers personalized restaurant recommendations in Seoul.
Lingerie — Startups in this category offer online stores for intimate apparel. Adore Me makes fast-fashion lingerie and swimwear. Heist makes luxury hosiery.
Flowers — Online platforms for flower delivery. The Bouqs Company is the most well-funded company in this category ($44M), and focuses on delivering flowers from eco-friendly, sustainable farms. Shanghai-based FlowerPlus offers a subscription model for flower delivery.
Cards — Startups to help you tell your Valentine how you feel. LovePop creates paper pop-up cards, while Picaboo allows users to print digital photography in bound books and greeting cards. For a digital option, Paperless Post allows users to create personalized online cards.
Chocolate — For the romantic with a sweet tooth, these chocolate startups largely focus on making healthier, less processed chocolate treats (Unreal Brands, NibMor) sourced through ethical channels (Alter Eco, Sweetriot). Love Cocoa offers a chocolate subscription service as well as gift delivery.
Sex tech — Companies here are leveraging tech to boost users’ sex lives. Lovely offers a connected sex toy and accompanying app with recommendations and relationship experts counseling, while Unbound offers a quarterly subscription box of erotic goods.
Wine — These wine platforms allow wine connoisseurs to purchase, suggest, and gift wines online. Vivino‘s wine app allows users to rate and discover new wines, while Wine.com offers a wine gifting service.
Long-distance — In an LDR? Little Riot provides a connected pillow that lets users hear their loved one’s heartbeat while they sleep. Rabbit offers a streaming app to help people watch movies together in real time, without the lag.