Australian start-up reinventing the condom launches $10m raise and global consumer campaign

Eudaemon Technologies has opened its manufacturing facility in Annandale, Sydney, as it prepares to produce its hydrogel condom at scale after completing an oversubscribed $4.5 million seed round and opened a further $10 million raise.

The $4.5 million will fund its manufacturing program, pivotal clinical trials and international regulatory clearances. The new round will support clinical trials, regulatory clearances, manufacturing scale-up and commercialisation. Eudaemon is targeting a commercial launch in 2028, with Australia and the United States among its priority markets.

Eudaemon’s lead product is a hydrogel condom that is 50% water, latex-free, and designed to replicate the mechanical and thermal properties of human tissue more closely than latex or synthetic condoms.

The technology grew out of research supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges initiative, which aimed to develop a next-generation condom to increase uptake and improve sexual health outcomes worldwide.

The company has spent more than a decade developing the material and the processes to manufacture it reliably at scale. It holds 61 granted patents, including in the US and China, and has completed an initial clinical study.

Nick Northcott, Eudaemon Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, said the company was entering an important stage of its development.

“We’ve spent more than a decade working through the science, engineering and manufacturing required to reinvent the condom. A lot of that work has happened quietly. We’ve developed the material, built the machines, tested the product and worked out how to manufacture something that hasn’t been made before,” he said

“We now have our manufacturing facility operating in Sydney, fresh capital behind us and a clear path towards commercial launch. We’re also ready to start introducing Eudaemon to consumers and building the audience we hope will eventually buy the product,” he added.

Eudaemon has also launched Operation International Relations, its first major consumer campaign, developed with creative studio and brand incubator ST JULES. The campaign is recruiting Australian men and women for Team AUS, a delegation that will take what Eudaemon calls “the condom of the future” to America. It is the first step in building an audience in Australia and the US ahead of the 2028 launch.

Northcott said the company was encouraged by investor response. “We’re going after a very large global market with technology developed here in Australia. The response to the seed round was a strong vote of confidence in the technology and the team. The $10 million raise will fund the next body of work required to get the product through the regulatory process, increase manufacturing capacity and prepare for market.”

Running under the line “It’s business. It’s pleasure. It’s diplomacy,” the campaign film targets the “greasy latex love sock that hasn’t changed in 100 years” and calls for “the highest quality humans to represent our great country and our great condom.” No diplomatic experience is required, although applicants are advised that “a bit of stamina wouldn’t go astray.” The film signs off with one final requirement: “No f#ck boys.”

Matt Knapp from ST JULES said Eudaemon provided rich material for the campaign.

“There aren’t many briefs where the product itself gives you this much to work with. It’s an Australian invention, the science is fascinating, and everyone understands the category. There’s also something inherently funny about a group of scientists in Sydney spending years quietly trying to reinvent the condom. Operation International Relations came out of that. If Australia has developed the condom of the future, we should probably send some Australians overseas to represent it.”

Eudaemon's Olympic-sized plans

Northcott said starting that work well ahead of launch was important. “There’s no reason for us to wait until 2028 to start talking to consumers. People can follow the story now. They can see what we’re building, understand why we’re doing it and hopefully have some fun with us along the way. Our goal is to build Eudaemon into an Australian consumer brand with a significant international business behind it.”

Eudaemon plans to build its consumer audience and marketing capability over the next two years while clinical trials, regulatory clearances and manufacturing progress. Its consumer proposition centres on “Intimacy. Uninterrupted.”, with the condom described as “designed to be forgotten.” The company has also set a goal of becoming an official condom supplier to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.

Northcott said: “By Brisbane 2032, we want this technology to be used around the world. It would be pretty special to have an Australian product, developed and manufactured here, involved in a home Olympics. That’s the target.”

Operation International Relations and applications for Team AUS are now live.