With Rs 65 Cr investment, Sequoia grabs 32% stake in mattress maker Wakefit

Mattress manufacturing startup Wakefit has raised Rs 65 crore in its first institutional round from venture capital firm Sequoia Capital at a post money valuation of Rs 210 crore.

Following the investment, Sequoia will pick up 31.9 per cent stake in the three-year-old startup while founders--Ankit Garg and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda--hold a little over 50 per cent stake in it.

Wakefit will deploy 10-15 per cent of the funds towards automating manufacturing to increase the production capacity from 250 mattresses per day to 700 mattresses, the company said through a press statement.

Wakefit manufactures products such as memory foam mattresses and pillows, mattress protectors and covers. The startup's research-driven product is engineered on the parameters of pressure distribution, weight distribution, foam testing and stress testing that suits all body types and climate conditions in India.

Wakefit claims to have sold over 1,25,000 products and counts more than 75,000 customers on its platform.

With this fund infusion, Wakefit will also invest in innovation and launch newer product ranges, including bed sheets fabricated with wood pulp fibers, comforters, pillows, and sleepwear.

The bootstrapped startup claims to become profitable in FY 17. In the last fiscal its revenue increased by 4X to Rs 27.6 crore while profit rose by 6X to Rs 2.2 crore.

The market size of the mattress industry is pegged around Rs 9,000-10,000 crores and further, it is growing at 9 per cent year-on-year (YOY) to reach Rs 14,000 crore by 2021.

As of now, the mattress market is predominantly dominated by Kurlon and Sleepwell, however, newly entered players such as Sunday, Nubliss, Sleepy Cat, Durfi, among others are also making it a competitive market to look on for.