Homegrown D2C mattress brand The Sleep Company wants to go omnichannel and expand its presence in international markets. The start-up is also backed by Fireside Ventures, Alteria Capital, and other investors.
Premji Invest Opportunity Fund, the venture capital arm of Azim Premji’s Wipro, has led a Series B round of Rs 177 crore in homegrown mattress and sleep-tech brand The Sleep Company. The round also saw participation from the start-up’s existing investor Fireside Ventures and Alteria Capital, among others. Both Fireside and Alteria Cap have raised their stakes in the company, Co-founders Harshit and Priyanka Salot told Business Today.
Premji Invest, which has invested in start-ups like Purplle, Icertis, Amagi, iD Fresh Food, and more, will hold a minority stake in The Sleep Company, the founders clarified. The Growth Investments team at Premji Invest said in a statement, “Our investment in The Sleep Company is part of our broader thesis of India getting more online, premiumization and increasing aspirational demand from Tier1+ towns. As per capita income increases, we see higher demand across consumption categories, including comfort and The Sleep Company with its product offering is fast emerging as a brand of choice.”
Prior to this, in July 2021, the start-up had raised Rs 13.4 crore from Fireside Ventures in a seed round, as per Tracxn. The round also saw participation from LogX Ventures and Mamaearth Co-founder Varun Alagh.
Mumbai-based The Sleep Company plans to utilize the fresh funds to expand its offline presence and grow its omni-channel brand strategy. It already has three experience centers, which it looks to grow to 25 by the end of FY23. Co-founder Priyanka shared that while the company started off as a D2C and digital-first brand, it now plans to go omnichannel.
“If you want to build a long-term sustainable business, you have to be present where your consumers are… across multiple channels and multiple geographies. That is what we want to do,” she said.
“Part of this investment will be dedicated to product and technology development, which is key to meeting our larger goal of changing the way the world sleeps and sits,” Priyanka added.
Additionally, The Sleep Company wants to scale up its team and strengthen its customer base in the UAE, Japan, and the UK, where it already has a presence. “We are planning to invest in marketing as we look to create a strong brand identity,” Co-founder Harshil added.
Founded in 2019, The Sleep Company claims to have hit an ARR of Rs 200 crore this October, growing 10x post-Covid, coinciding with the boom in the D2C market. Despite the growth, the road ahead looks challenging.
The cluttered Indian mattress market is worth Rs 12,000-13,000 crore today, and is growing at a CAGR of 11 per cent, according to a report by Research and Markets. It is presently dominated by legacy players such as Kurl-on, Sleepwell, with growing competition from D2C start-ups, including Wakefit, SleepyCat, Duroflex, and others.
But The Sleep Company founders aren’t deterred by competition. “The market is huge and so is the potential for a brand like ours,” Priyanka said. Courtesy: https://www.businesstoday.in/entrepreneurship/story/premji-invest-leads-rs-177-crore-series-b-round-in-d2c-start-up-the-sleep-company-351641-2022-11-03