Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn invested $1 million into a men’s sexual health company that promotes a line of “innovative wearable erection rings” and other intimate devices.
FirmTech Inc. sells penis rings that measure “the firmness, duration and number of nocturnal erections, indicators and predictors of cardiovascular disease and ED.” It also sells a line of penis rings intended purely for pleasure, as well as female vibrators.
His campaign said he invested early in the company and resigned from the board in September 2023 after expressing concerns about the marketing and direction of the company. The campaign said Lahn stepped away from FirmTech’s board before any “pleasure” products were released.
Lahn, who is self-funding the bulk of his gubernatorial campaign, said he has invested in multiple ventures over the years and was intrigued by FirmTech’s technology.
“What I’ve invested in is not a sex toy,” Lahn said. “It’s a grade two medical device.”
Asked if some in the Republican primary electorate would find the company and some of its marketing distasteful, Lahn referred back to the products qualifying as a “medical device.”
“My investment purely and specifically is around the technology underlying it, which I think is actually going to help save men’s lives,” he said.
The company’s website says the products are eligible for purchase through health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts.
The company’s founder, physician and entrepreneur Dr. Elliot Justin, said tests for erectile dysfunction often occur in sleep labs. His product is designed to be worn at home to measure data that can then be shared with health care professionals.
He said if a man’s nocturnal erections start to decrease, it can be an indicator of future heart problems.
“This interested me, because this would be like another vital sign, essentially, and one of a lot more interest in men in terms of maintaining their physical health than ‘how many steps did I take yesterday,’” Justin said.
Lahn said FirmTech Inc. specifically was about “investing behind a friend who’s a very successful doctor and very successful medical entrepreneur.”
A 2025 annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows an LLC owned by Lahn was a 25% shareholder of the company. The campaign said Lahn is contractually unable to disinvest his money.
“Customers have told us they have gotten cardiac catheterizations because the device warned them they had a significant heart problem,” Justin said. “Customers have told us that they’ve avoided getting penile implants because the device told them that the problem was psychological. That’s how valuable the device can be.”
The company’s website promotes a line of products for “health” and another for “pleasure.” It touts the products’ appearance on standard news sites such as GQ and Men’s Health, but also on PornHub.
Justin said all of the products on the website are designed to support men’s sexual health.
“Is pleasure not important as well?” he said.
Lahn, a first-time candidate for public office, praised the company’s innovation.
“It’s actually quite astonishing when you understand it, especially when you understand what’s going on in sleep labs for 20 years,” Lahn said. “And he’s the first person to bring that into the home. And now he has one of the largest heart health databases in existence. It’s quite interesting.”
Lahn has promoted himself as a businessman and entrepreneur, primarily focusing on the education space. He and his wife previously opened a nontraditional school in Wichita.
He said he has invested in other technologies, including light manufacturing and sports technology as well as residential and commercial real estate.
“I do some venture investments,” he said. “And I mean, just made another one, I think, today. It went out on a small retail company that we’re trying to help grow. And so I do a lot of these things.”
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn invested in men’s sexual health firm
Reporting by Brianne Pfannenstiel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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