Polari Labs

What Polari Labs does

Polari Labs is a London-based sexual wellness company founded in 2023 that develops products for anorectal health and intimacy. The company serves adults who engage in or are exploring anal sexual activity and experience friction with current preparation methods such as douching. Its primary customer segments are sexual wellness consumers seeking an alternative to lengthy and stress-inducing preparation rituals, and health-conscious buyers who prioritise body-safe, scientifically engineered products. The company positions itself as operating "the world's first lab dedicated to the science of butt stuff," with advisors including a colorectal surgeon and a psychosexual therapist.

Polari Labs' flagship and currently sole commercial product is A-BALL, a single-use, disposable device made from a proprietary collagen and seaweed-based material. The product is engineered to match rectal pH and osmolarity — an explicit design response to the fact that most commercial lubricants are up to 1,000x more acidic than the rectum can tolerate — using pharmacopeia-grade materials. A-BALL starts firm at room temperature for insertion, then softens into a jelly-like texture and exits naturally with the user's next bowel movement. The company applies medical device development standards (ISO 13485, ISO 14971, ISO 10993, ISO 3533) to its product despite not classifying it as a medical device, and built a custom rectum model to test consistency, grip, and pressure under simulated real-world conditions. Independent lab ISO 10993 cytotoxicity, sensitization, and irritation testing is in progress.

Polari Labs operates a direct-to-consumer business model, selling A-BALL at £4 per unit through a Kickstarter pre-sale campaign and its own e-commerce storefront at polarilabs.com. Marketing is community-led, executed across TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and YouTube, supplemented by earned media in outlets including TechCrunch, City A.M., Metro, Gay Times, Sifted, UKTN, Maddyness, and FemTech Insider, plus content marketing via an educational "How to Douche" page. The company has raised over $500,000 from a syndicate of micro-VCs and angels including Ada Ventures, Join EF, i3investing, Ventures Together, Chasing Rainbows, and Little Green Bamboo. It maintains partnerships with UK sexual health charities Terrence Higgins Trust and Cheeky Charity. The team is small (1-10 employees) and includes PhD-level scientists in bioengineering and medical sciences.

Name

Polari Labs

Legal name

Polari Labs

Website

https://polarilabs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Polari Labs is a London-based sexual wellness company developing anorectal health products. Its flagship A-BALL is a single-use device made of collagen and seaweed, serving as a scientifically engineered alternative to traditional douching for anal preparation, sold direct-to-consumer at £4 per unit via Kickstarter.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. A-BALL Product Sales: Direct-to-consumer sales of the A-BALL product, a one-time use consumable sexual wellness device. Currently available via Kickstarter pre-sale with plans for direct e-commerce sales. Price point at £4 per ball.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Polari Labs develops and sells A-BALL, a single-use sexual wellness device made from collagen and seaweed-based materials that serves as an alternative to traditional douching for anal preparation. The ball is inserted before sex to act as a barrier, then softens into a jelly-like texture and exits naturally with the user's next bowel movement, eliminating the need for 45-minute douching rituals.

Product overview

Polari Labs is a sexual wellness company developing products for anal health and pleasure. The company's primary product is A-BALL — a single-use disposable ball device made of collagen and seaweed that serves as an alternative to traditional douching. The A-BALL is inserted before sex to create a barrier preventing faecal contact, then softens and exits naturally with bowel movements. The company operates from London and applies medical device development standards (ISO 13485, ISO 14971, ISO 10993, ISO 3533) to their wellness products despite not being classified as a medical device.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• A-BALL: The company's flagship product - a body-safe anal preparation ball made of collagen and seaweed that serves as an alternative to douching. Currently available via Kickstarter pre-sale at £4 per ball.

Products and services

• A-BALL A-BALL is a single-use sexual wellness device made of collagen and seaweed that acts as an alternative to douching for anal sex preparation. It is inserted before sex to create a barrier between faeces and inserted objects (penis or toys), then softens into a jelly-like texture and exits naturally with the user's next bowel movement. Available via Kickstarter pre-sale at £4 per unit.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces preparation time from 45+ minutes to immediate use
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Klub VerbotenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFetish community co-founded by Hanny Amin (now Social Media Marketing and Community Building Manager at Polari Labs). The community is active in London, Berlin, and Amsterdam with over 90,000 members. Featured in partners section.
• Terrence Higgins Trust (THT)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerUK sexual health charity partnered with Polari Labs. Featured in both press coverage and partners page as a community/health partner.
• Cheeky CharityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSexual health/wellness charity partner featured on Polari Labs partners page.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Quinn: Sexual wellness audio platform focused on intimacy, mindfulness, and consent. Comparable to Polari as a content-and-community-led sexual wellness brand targeting similar audience segments with a modern, science-adjacent brand voice.
• Unbound: Direct-to-consumer sexual wellness brand for women and couples, known for editorial-style content and inclusive marketing. Comparable to Polari in audience, D2C motion, and reliance on earned media to overcome paid-channel restrictions.
• Elvie: Female-founded consumer health brand applying medical-device engineering standards to intimate products (e.g., pelvic floor trainers, breast pumps). The closest analog to Polari on the combination of consumer branding with rigorous bioengineering and ISO-style development discipline.
• Maude: Modern sexual wellness essentials brand selling lubricants, vibrators, and condoms directly to consumers with a minimalist, body-safe positioning. Closely comparable to Polari on category, GTM (D2C-first, content-led), and premium-but-accessible price architecture.
• Dame Products: Direct-to-consumer sexual wellness brand offering vibrators and intimacy products with a science-and-design-led positioning. Most comparable to Polari on brand tone, D2C channel mix, and the use of credible technical storytelling to differentiate in a stigmatised category.

Broad incumbents

• Pjur Group: Established global lubricant and intimate care brand with a broad product range across retail and D2C channels. Comparable as an incumbent adjacent category player whose rectal-and-sexual-use lubes overlap with the use cases Polari is engineering for.
• Lelo: Established global sexual wellness brand with a wide portfolio across vibrators, lubricants, and couples' products at premium price points. Comparable as a broad incumbent that defines the premium end of the category Polari is entering.

Emerging players

• Ohnut: Niche sexual wellness brand offering a depth-limiting intimate product developed with clinical advisors. Comparable to Polari on the playbook of building a single highly-engineered product that solves a specific intimate-use problem with clinical credibility.
• MysteryVibe: Sexual wellness brand combining hardware devices with app/software integration. Comparable to Polari as a technology-forward intimate product company pursuing both consumer wellness and clinical-validation positioning.
• Joylux: Women's intimate wellness device company selling pelvic floor and sexual wellness devices through D2C and clinical channels. Comparable to Polari on female-focused intimate wellness positioning and medical-grade device pedigree.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PolariGroup
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@PolariGroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/polari-labs/?viewAsMember=true
• Instagraminstagram.com/polarilabs
• TikToktiktok.com/@polarilabs?lang=en

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Polari Labs