A sleep solutions company that’s trying to make consumers forget memory foam

The Sleep Company joined the ultra-competitive mattress market in India looking to challenge the stronghold of memory foam mattresses with its grid technology.

Founded by the husband-wife duo in November 2019, the company claims that it is the only mattress maker in Asia to offer a grid-based mattress. The founders said that even though the average human spends around 26 years of their life on a mattress while sleeping, very little thought has gone into innovation beyond memory foam, which was invented in the 1960s.

The company achieved an ARR of INR 100 Cr in November 2021, just two years after its inception. Up to 35% of the brand’s business is coming from Tier 2 cities as it has expanded to seat cushions, back cushions, and adjustable pillows, 65% of its revenue comes from the top 35 cities, while the average ticket size is roughly around INR 20,000 per customer. As for sales channels, it claims to have an equal split between its website and marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart.

The Sleep Company has latched on to a different niche with its patented SmartGRID mattress tech that was developed in association with India’s DRDO. Unlike latex or memory foam, SmartGRID is said to be a hyper-elastic polymer which is laid out in a grid to offer what the company claims to be a superior experience for sleeping. It also improves temperature control with 2,500 air channels that means body heat is not trapped in the mattress.

Up to 60% of the market is foam-based mattress, so the grid is a differentiator for the company in India. However, the mattresses are slightly more expensive than competing offerings, but the founders believe that the typical Indian consumer is now realising the value of spending on a mattress that will last ten years, especially given that spending capacity has increased in the metros.

Besides mattresses and pillows, the company is looking to enter adjacent areas such as chairs, vehicle seats, workstation and gaming chairs and more. Beyond India, it is looking to extend its reach to international markets as well, beginning with Japan. Over the next five years, the Salots want the company to become an INR 1,000 Cr business, operating in more than 20 countries.