JimmyJane uses Hatcher letter for VC pitch

Sex toy manufacturer JimmyJane, which is backed by individual investors with ties to Draper Fisher Jurvetson, U.S. Venture Partners and Draper Richards, is using a handwritten note from Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher to drum up interest in its $2.5 million Series C financing, PE Week has learned.

PE Week reported (in its Jan. 29, 2007 issue) that the San Francisco-based company—which sells a premium line of gold and platinum vibrators along with sensual candles, silk and suede blindfolds, body jewelry and fragrances—last year raised $1.1 million towards the Series C financing. The group of backers to date includes a limited liability company controlled by Tim Draper. Another confirmed investor is Phil Schlein, a venture partner at USVP. Schlein, former president and CEO of Macy’s California, invested his personal money in JimmyJane, but did not commit from the USVP fund.

A recent regulatory filing for JimmyJane’s Series C lists more that 20 accredited investors to date, including Schlein and Draper. The identity of the remaining investors is undisclosed.

Hatcher was so impressed by JimmyJane’s products that she can’t wait until the company releases its intimate oils line, she wrote in her note to JimmyJane spokeswoman Kassie Benham. “You have great forward-thinking products. Any time you want to send anything, I would love it,” she wrote.

JimmyJane founder founder Ethan Imboden previously told PE Week that raising money for the startup hasn’t been easy. “I can’t even tell you what a challenge it was to get people to understand what we were doing when I only had a few sketches,” Imboden says. “But we have reached a scale now and a level of dialogue with consumers that investors really understand.” —Alexander Haislip