PIRR makes major investments in the US

A new alternative for romantic and erotic fantasies created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). That's the business idea behind the app PIRR, an AI that generates text based on the user's own preferences for erotic fantasies.

Anna Wallander, CEO of the company, has been working full-time on PIRR for the past three years, and the company is currently in Science Park Skövde's startup program. The idea came about through a survey sent around among friends and acquaintances, revealing that 87 percent of respondents were interested in a new type of arousing media.

"There is research showing that men respond to visual content, while women require more intellectual stimulation. We've taken that into account," says Anna Wallander.

PIRR is created by women and designed from a female perspective, but it caters to all genders and sexualities. In just a few months, the number of users has surpassed 100,000, with an average app session length of around 22 minutes. And all of this without investing in any kind of marketing.

"These are very impressive figures; it's about three times as long as the session time in a regular app."

Slightly over half of the users come from the US, which made the decision to expand internationally even more evident. The American market is the world's largest, and PIRR decided right from the start to aim to become a unicorn (a startup valued at over 1 billion dollars). The choice of genre is especially interesting given that romance and erotica are the world's most revenue-generating genres.

"It generates nearly twice as much revenue as thrillers and crime, which are in second place. It also turned out that the genre is popular among American women, which is reflected in the interest for PIRR. That's why we've chosen to have the app in English," explains Anna Wallander.

Hence, the company applied for TINC, an accelerator program for Nordic startups aiming to scale in the US. They were accepted and spent two and a half weeks in the US earlier this spring for training, discussions, and pitching to investors. A new investment round awaits PIRR in the fall, primarily targeting American venture capital firms. This makes the training all the more crucial.

"It's extremely valuable for us to come to the US through TINC. At the same time, we also attended the San Francisco Tech Week to pitch to and meet with investors. It turned out that many already knew about us, which was incredibly exciting."

"Yes, that's a valid question. I believe it's about being timely, as in all business endeavors. Many are trying to jump on the AI bandwagon because it's trendy now, but our entire business idea is built on the tool of artificial intelligence. Additionally, our user base is ready for the technology, and the entire industry surrounding adult products has shifted from taboo to something you find in nearly every convenience store. The era of female sexual liberation is here, and we've hit the mark with an innovative alternative to traditional erotic apps."