A High-Tech Endeavour To Help People Get A Good Night’s Sleep

An expert in mattress manufacturing, founder Gaurav Zatakia took the D2C plunge to offer high-quality but affordable mattresses and other sleep accessories

Gaurav Zatakia spent nearly 10 years building Hush, a B2B firm supplying mattresses and other sleep essentials to luxury hotel chains, including Taj Hotels, JW Marriott and the Hyatt group. Next, he wanted to venture into the B2C space to increase the brand’s market share and tied up with several retailers for sales. However, these retailers demanded high margins to cover their overheads, making the products too costly for end customers. After some pondering, Zatakia took the D2C route to surpass the intermediaries and launched Flo Sleep Solutions in 2018.

The brand clocked a 75% revenue increase YoY, from INR 12.5 Cr in FY21 to INR 21.9 Cr in FY22. Between October and December 2022, Flo launched two new products – a latex ‘anti-gravity’ mattress and the Oyashe bed, made from sheesham wood (Indian rosewood). It has as many as nine SKUs, served more than 1.5 Lakh customers and sold over 3 Lakh products.

Before the launch, the founder and his team tested 130+ high-quality foam combinations for more than two years to create a comfortable mattress that offers full body support and adapts to Indian weather conditions. The brand’s 3D Air-Flo technology ensures that the mattresses dissipate the heat by pushing it out to the sides, helping people sleep cooler. Flo also offers 100 nights of free trial and a 10-year product warranty on each buy.

Flo aims to double its revenue to INR 44 Cr in FY23 and eyes INR 100 Cr by 2025 while remaining profitable.