Last weekend, hundreds of sex tech enthusiasts gathered in Berlin’s iconic Funkhaus for SxTech EU 2025. After a yearlong hiatus, the event returned with a bold new format: a three-part weekend featuring the SxTech Conference, Sx Festival and Sx Expo.
As one of the only global events dedicated solely to sex tech, the need for SxTech EU is undeniable. And personally, as both a software engineer and a journalist in this space, I was intrigued by the new premise.
SxTech EU has always been a hub for sex tech professionals, and inviting the broader sex-positive community felt like a natural progression. We’re all working under the same ‘adult’ category, so why not unite and build solutions together?
But while the concept was promising, the execution fell short in 2025. With unclear audience targeting and underwhelming tech showcases, SxTech EU 2025 often felt like it was still figuring out what it wants to be.
The ambition: a full-spectrum weekend
This year, the organizers pitched the event as a “full-spectrum experience,” and to their credit, the format certainly aimed high. The weekend included:
A new addition geared toward the general sex-positive community. It featured live performances, creator-led talks, and a curated fetishwear market.
A shared space with booths from emerging sex tech brands. Though the space was largely empty, the standalone €10 ticket made it more accessible.
The cornerstone of the event, with talks and panels on everything from ethical AI and porn regulation to payment processors and growth capital.
The goal was admirable: bring together groups who don’t often share the same space. Throughout the weekend, I met porn performers, business angels, therapists, bankers, backend engineers and beyond. But that broad scope also created some confusion. It seems expectations were unclear for many attendees, in particular the after-party left some people confused with the intentions.
Was this a public festival, a trade show or a serious tech conference? At times, it felt like it was trying to be all of the above and ended up anticlimactic for everyone.
The reality: great idea, uneven execution
For all its ambitious framing, SxTech EU 2025 struggled to actually blend the diverse communities it brought together. In theory, the event was about connection – tech meets art, entrepreneurship meets activism. In practice, it felt like two disconnected events.
Day One: Festival Focus
Sunday’s Sx Festival had its own distinct energy: vibrant, expressive and unapologetically sex-positive. It drew a different, more local crowd, many of whom didn’t return the next day.
Day Two: Business Mode
Monday’s SxTech Conference, meanwhile, shifted sharply into business mode – growth projections, regulation panels, and investor pitches. The attendees had changed, the tone had changed, and seemingly so had the goals.
That divide exposed an issue deeper than a scheduling mishap. SxTech EU aimed to be interdisciplinary, but it didn’t function that way. The people who needed to be in conversation weren’t in the same room.
Sunday’s discussions on consent at sex parties and marketing efforts despite shadowbanning needed technical perspectives.
Monday’s panels on payment processors and fundraising (a number of which were all white, cis male lineups) needed sex worker insight.
Even the Sx Expo, which was meant to bridge both days, felt more decorative than functional. While some booths offered playful moments – Siren’s audio erotica with a wellness twist, housedoll’s EU-manufactured soft robotics, and Diva Dive’s luxe squirting blankets were my favorites – the tech was light and mostly static.
A few years ago, attendees could try out the early iterations of VR porn or have a 1:1 interview with a sex robot. This year, little was hands-on or cutting-edge.The opportunity: build with, not for
Still, the weekend had moments that reminded me why this space matters.
The startup pitches were a clear highlight—a mix of early-stage ventures tackling real issues. One pitch introduced Dommi, a productivity app that leverages the psychology of kink. Another by Shagadoo promised an adult-friendly digital marketplace, aiming to solve the ongoing problem of sex-positive businesses being deplatformed.
Others focused on sustainable condoms, sex education tools and new ways to enforce consent in audio erotica. It would’ve been stronger with live demos or a prize component, as in past years, but overall, I left the pitches feeling energized and optimistic about what the future will bring.
I also had countless moments of connection: debates over implementing a shared blocklist in our local community, early insights into fellow Sextech School graduates’ roadmap plans and running into people I interviewed nearly a decade ago before my politics were fully developed.
Everyone I met was so open, clearly yearning to connect with other founders or creators who ‘get it.’ Several times I’d unexpectedly catch myself in a daydream while watching the performances on stage. I was memorized by Tilly Poison stapling a playing card to her chest and couldn’t help but imagine how cool it’d be if she collaborated with a team of intimacy-focused biohackers.
I thought about what it’d be like if Slut Riot partnered with a hardware engineer specializing in interactive wearables, wondering how you’d ensure the pieces stay in place as the pole spins and their bodies contort.
Those moments made me realize that sex tech needs both perspectives. The sex-positive community needs idealist technologists – the ones who naively believe every problem can be solved with a bit of code and a half-decent API.
But those technologists also need industry professionals who’ve been navigating deplatforming, stigma and systemic bias for years to provide a reality check. That way, we can build products with the people they are meant to serve, not just for them.
Ultimately, I’ll give SxTech EU 2025 this – it was successful in attracting both of these perspectives, just on separate days. The interdisciplinary spirit is there, even if the structure needs work. I’m really hoping the conference returns again in 2026 and that this year’s event is the start of something even better – a truly inclusive and technically robust space where sex tech can thrive.
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