Pretty much every couple needs an intimacy boost from time to time, especially couples who have been married for awhile.

The couples wellness platform Arya was born from this revelation — a highly personal one for Offer Yehudai, Arya’s CEO and co-founder. 

He had a hunch that the mid-life intimacy challenges in his own marriage were not only common, but predictable — and conquerable, if only someone in the relationship industry would focus on what happens to a couple after — instead of before — they say “I do.” 

He argues that modern life, with all its efficient technological trappings, fails to fulfill our basic human need for emotional connection. Arya is Yehudai’s attempt to close the gap. But the wellness company’s goodie-filled subscription boxes and AI Intimacy Concierge are only part of Yehudai’s long-term solution. 

Yehudai said he sees “relationship maintenance” not only as an untapped market, but as an unexplored avenue for healing. Intimacy in all its forms is shrouded by stigma, something Yehudai is determined to change.

In our exclusive Q&A, Offer Yehudai explained why couples of all ages, identities, and desires should invest in intimacy. When all is said and done, intimacy is one of life’s only guarantees. “The real opportunity isn’t in helping people find love — it’s in helping them keep it alive,” he told us.

Q: Patron VC Amber Atherton told us Arya stood out for reimagining emotional connection using AI, blending concierge support, content, and physical products. What early decisions shaped that direction? 

The early decisions really came from my own experience. My wife and I had been together for 15 years, we had four kids, and we found ourselves asking that age-old question: ‘What happened to us?’ We weren’t in crisis mode, but we’d never shared that ‘I always wanted to try this with you’ side of ourselves.

When I went looking for solutions, everything felt outdated — card games from the 80s, cringy self-help books. Nothing addressed the real issue: it’s awkward and uncomfortable to suggest something new with someone you’ve been intimate with for over a decade.

When I spoke with friends — I realized this wasn’t a singular experience, we were all seeking solutions. 

That’s when I realized we needed to combine the personalization of AI with real-world application. Arya blends the technology with physical components to make it radically easy for couples to explore new things together.

Unlike chatbots, Arya’s concierge proactively checks in on both partners by sending messages and suggestions to remove ownership from either partner.

The concierge removes the guesswork and shame, the content provides expert guidance, and the physical products create accountability — like having a personal trainer for your relationship. 

Q: Many platforms focus on the beginning of relationships. You built something for what happens after. Can you explain what drew you to focus on an idea about emotional maintenance and relationships, and not say, singles? 

Consumers spend billions of dollars on finding love online, and many billions more later on couple therapy, breakups and divorce. Yet there was nothing in between to help the 72 million couples in America grow together past the swiping phase and invest in that area no one talks about: intimacy. 

We surveyed 1,000 couples and found that 81% reported a decline in intimacy within their first two years together. More than anything, they wanted to try something new — they just didn’t know how to ask for it. That’s a massive market that’s been completely underserved.

While everyone else is fighting over the dating space, we’re building for the much larger opportunity of helping existing couples reconnect. 

Q: What’s the thinking behind combining digital and physical experiences? How do those elements work together to support deeper connection? 

You can’t create real intimacy through a screen. The digital component — our AI concierge — helps couples navigate the awkward conversations and provides expert guidance to explore. But the magic happens in person.

The physical products create accountability and take exploration from theory to practice. It’s like the difference between reading about exercise and actually working out. 

The shipment creates a designated time to engage with your partner with everything you need. It removes the friction of ‘what do we buy?’ or ‘where do we start?’ Our research shows 75% of couples who try something new report feeling closer to their partner.

Our concierge helps better understand couples and guide them to the new experiences they want to try, and the physical component makes that ‘new’ actually happen.

What’s most interesting, is that these experiences ultimately help build a stronger connection — both physically and intimately — that the conversations couples have even outside of their sexual wellness are also improving. They’re learning new things about each other, becoming more curious, and more engaged with one another. 

Q: From your perspective, what are investors really looking for in the relationship tech space today, and what do you think is being overlooked? 

Stigma is a public health issue, similar to mental wellness 10 years ago. It’s hard for investors to embrace this but forward-looking investors, like Patron, see the impact on people’s life and how technology can make knowledge more accessible and scale the scattered work of sexologists and intimacy coaches. 

Couples wellness isn’t just about sex — it’s about emotional connection. Ninety percent of people who are sexually unsatisfied also feel less connected to their partner overall. We’re addressing a fundamental need in American society: in today’s digital age, we’re more disconnected than ever.

We’re battling a loneliness epidemic and skyrocketing divorce rates. Arya is combining the value of AI for hyper personalized support — guided by a range of experts — and blended with physical components to promote dedicated time for connection with your partner.

Sexual wellness isn’t a niche wellness fad; Arya is addressing a connection crisis. 

At the end of the day, building in the relationship tech space is no different than any other consumer products, so investors are looking for strong retention, efficient acquisition and revenue growth and that’s something Arya has demonstrated consistently.

We are seeing explosive growth, with hundreds of thousands of users coming to Arya for relationship support. 

Q: Who are you building Arya for? Are there specific relationship dynamics or user behaviors that shaped the product? 

Arya is for the couples who love each other but feel like something’s missing. They’ve fallen into routine and are looking to prioritize their connection the same way they prioritize their fitness or mental health. 

Eighty percent of our users are millennial women who pull their partner onto the platform. They’re often parents who are juggling careers, kids, and relationships. They’re not looking for a complete overhaul; they want tools to reconnect with their partner. Arya helps them become advocates for their own relationship wellness. 

Arya is meeting a diverse range of needs. With more than 250,000 users located across the country — and a strong presence in the Heartland — we are helping couples explore new play styles and kinks to bring excitement to their relationship.

Q: Do you see Arya helping define a new category, something distinct from both dating and wellness apps? 

Absolutely. We’re not a dating app — we’re a couples wellness platform. We’re not traditional wellness either — we’re specifically focused on intimacy and connection. We’re pioneering what I call ‘relationship maintenance’ — the technology and tools couples need to keep growing together. 

This follows the same trajectory we saw with mental health. Ten years ago, therapy was stigmatized, hidden behind closed doors. Now you wait six months to book a therapist because they have such high demand. We’re doing the same thing for intimacy — removing the shame and making it something couples actively invest in. 

Q: Looking ahead, what’s next for Arya and what’s next for the emotional connection space more broadly? 

For Arya, we’re focused on expanding our reach. We have users across all 50 states, but that’s just the beginning. For the broader space, I think you’ll see more platforms focusing on relationship maintenance rather than relationship formation.

The real opportunity isn’t in helping people find love — it’s in helping them keep it alive. The trust people build with the Concierge is the most essential part. We’re starting with emotional and physical intimacy and continue to support the partners, together and separately in their life journey.

We’re proving that technology can bring couples closer together, not drive them apart. That’s the future of relationship tech.