Seashell emojis, “down there,” a piece of fabric shaped in a way that resembles female anatomy. It doesn’t matter. Women’s health has become a taboo subject on social media. Aima Sense has experienced this firsthand, the startup that has, among other things, appeared on SVT’s Draknästet. The company, led by entrepreneur sisters Cecilia Lantto Belin and Karin Belin, says it has lost millions due to censorship and has taken the issue all the way to the Swedish government. Now, they are raising capital and looking for a stable partner, with the goal of becoming a global brand. “We never give up.”
“Imagine an arrow pointing straight upwards and then suddenly turning straight down into a crash.”
Draknästet company Aima Sense had grown organically on TikTok and managed to build a community on social media. Things took off from day one, a “flying start” with proof of concept and enthusiastic customers. But suddenly, it was as if the lights went out. Aima Sense became “shadowbanned,” as it is called, with its reach restricted and dropping from a few hundred thousand views to around 20 views per post. A devastating blow for a new startup.
“We have always been careful with our wording,” says Aima Sense CEO Cecilia Lantto Belin.
“But it’s because it’s about women’s health and female anatomy.”
To understand how Aima Sense ended up in the shadows of social media, it helps to take a closer look at the company’s business idea. Aima Sense was founded three years ago by sisters Karin Belin and Cecilia Lantto Belin. They want to facilitate a more equal sex life and have, among other things, developed a patented tampon for “post-sex leakage,” which absorbs semen while restoring the pH balance. No fragrance or anything like that, just something that helps restore balance, which many women need in order to avoid discomfort, according to the entrepreneurs.
Cecilia Lantto Belin refers to market research showing that women say no to sex for hygiene-related reasons, such as having just showered or needing to go to work later.
“It should create a sense of freedom,” she says.
“We know that our products are loved and important. We believe in this, and we have received so many wonderful reviews and emails from customers. That is what drives us.”
She continues:
“We have put everything into this, for so many years.”
Aima Sense really did get off to a strong start. They appeared on SVT’s Draknästet in 2024 and attracted offers from three Dragons, but ultimately turned down the offers from investor trio Adeline Sterner, Hellen Wohlin Lidgard and Jonas Tellander.
Social media platforms have systems designed to detect pornographic content. But the platforms go further than that in their efforts to identify prohibited material. The net they cast is wide. In an effort to stop sexual, graphic or problematic content, words that are also associated with the body are flagged, including words used to market women’s health, sexual health products, menstruation and menopause.
Cecilia Lantto Belin stresses that Aima Sense has been careful and was already censoring itself even before the shadow fell over the company.
“We talk about women’s health, but not in an explicit way. Many of the words we need to use are flagged words, and we know that,” she says.
Karin Belin adds:
“For example, we have used the seashell emoji instead of writing the word vagina.”
It didn’t help. Even an image of a piece of fabric resembling the shape of a vulva was blocked.
“It feels like we’re under a microscope. You have to remember that these are companies based in the US and China, where things are more conservative, and that the companies’ policies have become stricter,” says Cecilia Lantto Belin.
The sisters have received help from engaged contacts at both TikTok and Pinterest, without managing to escape the freeze. On Meta, they have worked with different agencies and Meta Business Partners who have “torn their hair out” over the situation. They have been advised to change everything, including their domain and payment cards, a nightmare for an e-commerce company.
“There have been a thousand different ads. But in the end, they gave up,” Cecilia Lantto Belin says of the agencies.
The company has also seen influencers lose the majority of their normal views when promoting Aima Sense. Out of consideration for influencers, the duo therefore maintains close communication with everyone who collaborates with the company.
Instead, Aima Sense has turned its attention towards partners such as Apoteket AB and Danish department store Magasin du Nord. In this way, despite the headwinds, the company has expanded to 15 countries and is now close to entering the giant pharmacy chain Boots.
Aima Sense’s products focus on women’s sexual wellbeing. Photo: Press
Despite the struggle and frustration, the founders say they have found a loyal and satisfied customer base.
“Even though we have paid a lot to acquire our customers, we have gained returning customers. Our revenue has dropped, but we are still standing strong.”
In 2025, Aima Sense generated just under SEK 1 million in revenue, with an operating loss of SEK 1.9 million. The company’s founders have made projections of what could have been possible if they had been able to market their products on social media.
“We have lost millions because of this,” says Cecilia Lantto Belin.
“Under normal circumstances, we should have reached at least SEK 5 to 10 million in revenue by now.”
She bases this on the KPIs and the impact their advertising generated in the beginning. Had that trajectory continued, the founders believe the company would have reached at least SEK 5 million in revenue since launch, assuming everything had continued at the same pace.
“Of course, there are huge amounts of data that cannot be predicted. If we had been able to reach more people, the journey could have moved significantly faster than that, considering the strong repeat customer base we have.”
She says endless hours have been spent dealing with this, time that could have been spent on something else.
Karin Belin points out that femtech and sextech are predicted to become enormous markets.
“We have been forced to delete accounts with communities and millions of views, but we never give up,” she says.
“We are a global brand. That is where we belong.”
Aima Sense is now in the middle of a funding round that it hopes to complete before the end of the year. The goal is to find a stable partner to join them on the journey. Prior to this round, the company has raised SEK 3.7 million in capital.
They have been difficult years. The shadow has taken its toll. But a turning point came last autumn when hygiene giant Essity invited Aima Sense to Munich. The giant’s products related to menstruation and menopause had also ended up in the shadows on social media. At that point, Cecilia Lantto Belin and Karin Belin no longer felt quite so alone in their David-versus-Goliath battle against the tech companies.
The British initiative CensHERship, which maps how women’s health is silenced online, has also strengthened the entrepreneurs. Aima Sense also invited Sweden’s Minister for Gender Equality, Nina Larsson (L), to Karlskrona, where the company is based. The minister is expected to take the issue further to Brussels.
“This has become like a parallel journey alongside building the company,” says Cecilia Lantto Belin.
Is there a positive side to having been forced to do everything differently? How has it changed the way you are as entrepreneurs?
“Of course, it has forced us to make do with very limited resources and become more creative,” says Cecilia Lantto Belin, before her sister Karin Belin interrupts:
“But it would be nice to have the wind at our backs for once.”
The entrepreneurs are not only concerned for their own sake. What are the consequences when a completely naked Sydney Sweeney is allowed to advertise a betting company, while information about endometriosis is removed?
“It affects the teenage girl searching for information on TikTok, women entering menopause, but also researchers working in the field of women’s health. And that is not okay,” says Karin Belin.
“It also affects us as female founders.”
Cecilia Lantto Belin says it forces entrepreneurs into the very taboo they are themselves trying to break. Women become upset, and rightly so, when they see the way companies advertise.
“I understand why women get upset by messages like, ‘Do you have problems down there?’ But now I see it completely differently myself, why they write the way they do,” says Karin Belin.
“This isn’t something shameful, but we are being forced into treating it that way,” says Cecilia Lantto Belin.
