Given the political climate and Peter Thiel’s political views, it seemed ironic at first that Thiel Capital chose the ideal time to support 28, a self-described “femtech” company that offers fitness and wellness recommendations based on the phases of one’s menstrual cycle.
Then you start calculating.
Thiel is known for its rather right-wing interests and has put money into PACs to support the Senate campaigns of several populist Republicans. At the beginning of last year he stated: $10 million to a PAC that supports JD Vance’s run for a seat in the Ohio Senate. Vance infamous compared abortion to slavery.
Thiel also supported Blake Masters, a Trump-approved senate candidate from Arizona whose website once stated that he was completely pro-life and supported “a federal person law that recognizes that unborn babies are human beings that should not be killed.” The submission has since deleted, NBC News reported. Vance and Masters are former venture capitalists who have won their respective Republican primary. Both are supported by Thiel (although that support appears to be) diminishing.)
“The potential of innovation in the private sector is limitless, but so is the potential to wreak havoc.” Olivia DeRamus, Founder, Communia
Then you look at 28, an offshoot of Evie magazine. (A representative for Evie told londonbusinessblog.com that 28 and Evie are two separate entities and function as such, stating that Thiel Capital’s investment was only in the former rather than the latter. It should be noted, however, that the name of 28’s website was “28 by Eve,and 28byevie.com now redirects to 28.co). Evie is a publication that claims to focus on affirming femininity without the “biased agenda” of other publications.
That itself is coded transphobic language that tries to exclude trans women from the definition of femininity, a fact underlined by Evie who published a story in which she wondered if “the trans debate [is] a cause of the increase in mental health problems in women.In addition, the publication’s thoughts on abortion rights include writing that, for example, “abortion is the intentional termination of a human being in the womb, and that is never medically necessary.”
Although it is clear that 28 is now aim to distance itself from Evie, the startup’s version with ties to the magazine got a $3.2 million seed round led by Thiel’s venture firm. According to PitchBook, it is the only “femtech” the company has invested in. This is no coincidence. Thiel Capital’s decision to back 28 and its Evie-driven agenda seems to be one of many examples of right-wing investors and entrepreneurs marketing a certain kind of conservatism in different ways.