Wakefit Success Story - How it is Enabling People to Sleep Better at Night?

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Wakefit.

Sound sleep can work wonders for one’s body and mind. It can help you improve immunity, increase concentration, stay in shape, and look younger. Fascinating, isn't it? However, not all are lucky enough to fall asleep in a jiffy. A worldwide survey that ranked sleep patterns revealed that the Indians fall under the most sleep-deprived segment. Wakefit was established to tackle this issue and eliminate the menace of sleep deprivation once and for all.

Wakefit is a Bengaluru-based startup, which operates with the objective of bringing sleep into Indians’ consciousness and helping them take steps to improve their sleep health through a wide range of sleep-efficient products. A fully owned subsidiary of Wakefit innovations pvt ltd Bangalore, Wakefit commands a market share of 35-40%.

Keep on reading to find out more about Wakefit's Startup Story, Founders and Team, Name, Tagline, Logo, Wakefit Challenges, Revenue, Acquisitions, Awards and Achievements, Competitors, Funding and Wakefit Investors, and more.

Wakefit - Company Highlights

About Wakefit and How it Works
Mattress Industry in India
Wakefit - Founders and Team
Wakefit - Startup Story | How Wakefit Began
Wakefit - Mission and Vision
Wakefit - Name, Tagline, and Logo
Wakefit - Business Model and Revenue Model
Wakefit - User Acquisition
Wakefit - Startup Challenges
Wakefit - Growth and Revenue
Wakefit - Funding and Investors
Wakefit - Awards and Achievements
Wakefit - Acquisitions
Wakefit - Competitors
Wakefit - Future Plans

About Wakefit and How it Works

Wakefit was launched in March 2016 in Bangalore as a sleep solutions startup with an aim to revolutionize the quality of sleep among Indians. The Wakefit team believes that quality sleep is a basic need and not a luxury; this mantra motivates the team to focus on innovation in product development, efficiency in processes, cost optimization, and excellence in customer experience. Besides, Wakefit’s superior quality products are also found really efficient and more affordable than its competitors.

Wakefit currently has four variants of its core product, which can be summed up as:

• Orthopedic Memory Foam Mattress
• Dual Comfort Mattress
• Foam Spring Mattress
• 7-Zone Wakefit Latex Mattress

Wakefit had initially started with "Orthopedic Memory Foam" and "Dual Comfort" variants of its mattresses and eventually rolled out the other 2 as well. The company wants to keep things simple, and therefore, it delineates its Wake fit mattress into 4 easy-to-remember categories. Talking about the same, Wakefit founder Chaitanya Ramalingegowda said that this choice has been made to avoid decision fatigue.

With the plethora of decisions a person has to make in a single day, we want to simplify consumer's life by helping them make at least one less decision.

In line with this philosophy, the firm saw the transition from a mattress firm to a sleep solutions company, where it decided to launch bed frames, pillows, back pillows, and mattress protectors. To complete the sleep portfolio, the firm further decided to launch a maternity pillow, a nursing pillow, a pet bed, and a baby bed by the end of 2020.

In its current capacity, Wakefit is able to produce more than 500 mattresses a day and ships around 7500-9000 mattresses in a month. The machinery is imported from Europe and the Middle East so as to ensure world-class quality in terms of consistency and chemicals used. Manufacturing is done in Bengaluru, and quality checks take place in Europe. Wakefit is certified under the Certi-PUR process (for foam). The chemicals used are certified by Greenguard, an environmental institute that aims to reduce human exposure to pollutants. Wakefit invests its profits into German manufacturing equipment which in turn guarantees high efficiency and low costs.

Wakefit.co, the website hosted by Wakefit, conducted a survey and it was found that in India, 48% of people complained of back problems. Furthermore, 80% of Indians reportedly feel sleepy at work once every three days a week. To solve the increasing number of sleep-related problems, Wakefit included many innovative features while designing its products. Wakefit claims that its mattresses are made of proprietary "open-cell structures" for cool summers and that its high-density foam gives complimentary support. Body contour is another factor the company has focused on. Wakefit claims that its mattresses’ memory foam provides pressure relief.

Since immigrant millennials in metro cities may prefer renting, Wakefit has tied up with online furniture and home appliances rental platform Rentomojo to provide mattresses along with the latter's beds. Wakefit is also in talks with more players in the B2B space.

The company now delivers products all over India. Wakefit sells products online through its website and e-retailers such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Pepperfry. It currently ships around 300 mattresses a day but the numbers do go up to 800 during the sale periods. Around 75% of its sales are from the top 8 metros and the rest are from the tier-2 and tier-3 towns.

Fanzart Fans Success Story - Buy Designer Ceiling Fans and Designer Wall Mount Fans Online

Indian lifestyle has been undergoing a major transformation, especially since the last few years. There has been a growing inclination towards luxurious high-end designer products. Homes are fast becoming smart homes and home appliances are becoming modern and stylish. With everything else, the ceil…

StartupTalkyChayanika Goswami

Mattress Industry in India

With an estimated size of INR 10,000 crore, the Indian mattress market is expected to grow to INR 14,000 crore by 2021, according to market reports. The Indian mattress industry has grown at a CAGR of more than 11% over the past 5 years. While a few brands have been operating in the space, it is largely dominated by unorganized players. The overall market has seen very little innovation in the past few decades. With the entry of new-age players, the mattress market is seeing a revolution, with products designed and customized to suit customer needs and comfort.

As per internal estimates, Wakefit.co owns 2-3% of the overall mattress market but with respect to the online sleep solutions space, it commands a market share of almost 35-40%. As sleep health becomes a pertinent topic among wellness and health circles and as people start understanding the role of sleep in one’s life, the market is pegged to grow at a rapid pace and the team at Wakefit is confident of making India sleep better every day.

Wakefit - Founders and Team

Ankit Garg and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda are the founders of Wakefit.

Ankit Garg

Ankit Garg is the Director and Founder atWakefit. He is a Chemical Engineer from IIT-Roorkee. He was featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 Young Entrepreneurs list of 2019. Ankit worked as a management trainee at Bayer Material Science for 4 years before starting up with Wakefit.

Chaitanya Ramalingegowda

Chaitanya Ramalingegowda is the co-founder of Wakefit. He has done an MBA from ISB, after obtaining a BE in Computer Science, and has been working closely with startups since 2012. Chaitanya has experience serving as a VP, Investor Relations, Director, and Business mentor in 4 different companies - YourStory, LetsVenture, PurpleGull Services, and Neotec Hub, before he joined Ankit to found Wakefit.

The growth that Wakefit has achieved can be attributed to the vision held by the two founders and a committed team of more than 250 employees who work tirelessly to ensure that people don't compromise with their sleep.

Wakefit - Startup Story | How Wakefit Began

The motivation to start up was born out of Ankit Garg’s personal experience of buying a mattress. He comes from a strong ‘foaming’ background, having worked with a German multinational in the space. This gave him a detailed understanding of the raw materials that went into a mattress and the cost at which these materials were bought and sold. When he experienced the journey of buying a mattress through the traditional business model, he realized that there was no innovation in the product that was being sold; it was highly overpriced and the sales representatives of retail stores had no knowledge of the science of sleep. This sparked the drive to change the way Indians accessed sleep products in the country.

One day over a cup of coffee, Ankit and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda decided the time was ripe to revolutionize sleep and make good-quality sleep products accessible to larger masses in the country by bringing in a range of efficiencies in the business model. The growing popularity of D2C brands fueled the idea to start an online model where products were manufactured at a centrally located plant and shipped directly to customer households.

Before launching Wakefit officially, Ankit bought a few hundred mattresses and sold them on Amazon in 2015 to understand the unit economics. He made a profit of INR 60 lakh in this trial period.

Wakefit - Mission and Vision

Wakefit's vision is "to democratize sleep for one and all with premium quality sleep products at affordable pricing."

As an online mattress, bedding, online furniture, and furnishing company, Wakefit believes that it can educate the customers that this category too can be purchased online.

Wakefit - Name, Tagline, and Logo

Wakefit works with the vision to improve the sleep health of individuals. Its scientifically-designed mattress makes the users feel well-rested and allows them to wake up feeling active and fit; hence, the name 'Wakefit'.

The logo of the brand is colored in bright blue and orange tints, symbolizing energy and vitality. The letter "K" in the logo is ingeniously represented by a person who is fit and hence, jumping in joy!

Wakefit has opted for the tagline, "The more you know, the better you sleep" as per the brand's videos.

Wakefit - Business Model and Revenue Model

Wakefit follows a D2C business model so as to rationalize costs. The company operates in the e-commerce space and all the products are listed on its website as well as on Amazon, Flipkart, and PepperFry. Wakefit delivers to more than 19,000 pin codes in India through these channels. With 3x growth in revenue since inception, Wakefit has also maintained profitability since 2016.

The flagship product, Orthopedic Memory Foam Mattress, starts at INR 5961, the Dual Comfort Mattress starts at INR 5565, whereas the 7-Zone Latex Mattress and the Foam Spring Mattress are priced INR 7671 and INR 6260 onwards. The product portfolio of the brand also includes pillows, bed frames, comforters, bedding accessories, Wakefit furniture for the living room, dining room, study, home and garden, kids, and more.

"We want to democratize sleep and for that it is important to ensure affordability. To reduce manual labor and increase efficiency, we are using vertical cutting and compression machines. Our customer acquisition cost is Rs 800-900, and our average ticket size is Rs 11,000, so there is no cash burn,” says Ankit.

Since no middlemen are involved, Wakefit is able to provide prices that are 50% lesser than its competitors. The Wakefit mattress price starts from INR 5,000 onwards, which goes up to over INR 26,000.

Wakefit - Growth and Revenue

Wakefit's revenues were around INR 199 crore ($26.73 mn) in FY20, and it grew to Rs 410 crore ($55.08 mn) in FY21. Thus, the company achieved more than 2X growth from FY20. The operating revenue of the company registered a 2.07X growth from Rs 197.44 crore to Rs 408.59 crore during FY21.

The company has clocked in an annualized revenue run rate of Rs 700 crore, which is 2X the rate it saw in the last financial year, as per the reports dated November 11, 2021.

Some of the prominent growth statistics of Wakefit are:

Wakefit is backed by investing giants like Sequoia Capital

• The company has 9 dedicated factories where it manufactures its products
• It has over 22 experience centers, 6 of which lie in the Indian metros whereas 9 others in the smaller towns of India
• Initially starting as a bed and bedding accessories provider, Wakefit has largely expanded its categories of offerings to provide ergonomic furniture, which includes sofas, study tables, bookshelves, shoe racks, TV units, bedside tables, coffee tables, dining tables, and more
• The home solutions provider is currently serving over 19,000 pin codes across India
• The EBITDA of Wakefit has recorded a 10% year-on-year increase since its inception
• Wakefit has recorded a revenue of Rs 6.75 crore revenue right in the first year of its operation
• The majority of the revenue that Wakefit earns comes from Tier 2 and Tier 3, which was earlier reported to be 35% and grew to almost 50%

Wakefit Gurukul is a training program launched by Wakefit where trains more than 200 carpenters to build home solutions products efficiently.

The Wakefit innovations and "customer-centric DNA have enabled us to achieve 2-2.5X revenue growth year-on-year," mentioned Wakefit co-founder Chaitanya.

Financial

Expense

Wakefit total expense rises from Rs 744 crore in FY22 to Rs 966 crore in FY23.

EBITDA

During the fiscal year change from FY22 to FY23, Wakefit showed slight gains in several important financial indicators. A favorable trend can be seen in the EBITDA margin, which grew significantly from Rs 1.18 in FY22 to Rs 1.19 in FY23. Furthermore, the ratio of expenses to operating revenue had a slight decline from -22% in FY22 to -21% in FY23, suggesting a possible improvement in cost control. The ROCE improved somewhat from -12% in FY22 to -10% in FY23, although it was still negative.

CoHo - Providing Co-living Spaces in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru

Migration has considerably increased both within the country and abroad. The reasons for the same are many but the most prominent being, in search of employment options and education. Moving to a new place breaks the monotony and unravels a whole new world. However, finding the right place to live i…

StartupTalkyChayanika Goswami

Wakefit - User Acquisition

Ankit and Chaitanya undertook the deliveries themselves for the first 100 customers to closely understand the customer behavior, attitudes, and pain points.

“Internet adopters were our first users. We visited homes for our first 100 deliveries, and did video interviews for feedback."

Ankit shares that those experiences taught them how to improve their product in terms of longevity, aesthetics, packaging, thickness (soft/medium/hard), and helped them understand customer pain points better. The direct feedback received from the customers aided a lot in the development of the core offerings that Wakefit provides today.

Experts opine that the comfort and adaptability of a mattress can only be judged by an individual once he or she sleeps on it and experiences it for at least 14 days. A cursory visit to the store cannot give an indication of the quality. That is why Wake fit provides a 100 day free trial with 100% return policy. This Wakefit return policy also helped build confidence among customers in the online mode of purchase. The insights enabled Wakefit to model its organizational structure such that the customer pain points are adequately addressed right from the product development stage till the post-sale customer experience stage.

Wakefit.co has built a community of over 4 lakh customers and has garnered more than 12,000 positive reviews online that have propelled the business forward. The company never spent heavily on advertisements. Word-of-mouth marketing has been the most potent tool that has helped the Wakefit team build the business in a steady and sustainable manner. The firm also does a lot of online content marketing on the importance of sound sleep and health.

Wakefit - Startup Challenges

The major challenge in the mattress industry is the lack of awareness among the general public about choosing the right kind of mattresses and prioritizing sleep wellness. Wakefit is committed to bridging this gap by sharing trustworthy, first-hand information about choosing the right kind of mattress as well as building knowledge around the science of sleep.

Another challenge is making the most of the consumers’ need to touch and feel the mattress. The Wakefit team believes that the right kind of mattress cannot be chosen merely by means of ‘touch-and-feel’. So, the company offers a 100-day free trial policy which allows customers to test the Wakefit mattresses for themselves in the privacy of their homes and gauge whether it is the right choice for them.

One of the initial challenges that the Wakefit founders faced was to take care of everything by themselves.

"Taking care of everything ourselves was hard, as was finding the right people at the right time. We found the team through referrals and LinkedIn," said one of the co-founders fo Wakefit.

GrabOn Success Story - Get Online Coupons and Best Deals on Big Brands

The number of online shoppers in India is on a rise. As per a study conducted by Boston Consulting Group [https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/five-surprises-indians-shop-online-offline.aspx?redir=true] , there were 90 million online shoppers in India in 2017, and the number is increasing. Conveni…

StartupTalkyChayanika Goswami

Wakefit - Funding and Investors

The Funding details are as follows:

Wakefit had raised INR 65 crore in the first round (Series A) of funding in December 2018 by Sequoia Capital for a 31%stake. The funding has enabled the company to experiment with the innovation of the products and build up the R&D capability by buying automated machinery. Wakefit bought three machines for temperature and pressure mapping and for stress-testing, to understand how foam reacts to different body postures. Wakefit is currently selling the 15th version of its products.

Wakefit has now been valued at INR 2,790 crore (around $375 mn), as of November 2021, which is a significant jump from INR 1,900 crore in 2020. The company also instituted employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback worth INR 15 crore for the benefit of the early employees of the company

Wakefit - Awards and Achievements

• Won the Startup of the Year award at the Small Business Awards 2019, conducted in collaboration with Economic Times & Entrepreneur magazine.
• Won the Business Today Coolest startup 2018 award.
• Won ‘Startup of the Year - Home and Lifestyle’ award at India Retail and eRetail Congress 2019.
• Won Amazon Aces Gold as Bestsellers in 2019.
• Won Best Customer Service Award in 2019 at an Award ceremony organized by Entrepreneur India Magazine.
• Nominated for SABRE awards for its innovative ‘One India One Wakefit’ campaign

Wakefit - Acquisitions

Although mergers and acquisitions are common in the e-commerce segment, Wakefit wants to continue as an independent entity and has not acquired any companies till now.

Wakefit - Competitors

There are companies like:

• Cuddl
• Sunday Mattress
• SleepyCat
• Wink&Nod
• Sleephead
• Duroflex, all of which entered the industry in the last few years.

Wakefit competition is always raging from startups, unorganized players, and biggies like:

• Kurl-On
• Sleepwell
• Wakefit, which continues to grow at a great pace.

Wakefit - Future Plans

• It targets a revenue of INR 1,000 crore by FY23.
• The Wakefit factory area has, over the years, has expanded from 3,000 sq.ft to 5,000, 30,000, and is currently standing at over 70,000 sq.ft, which will further expand with the growing business requirements.
• The startup currently has 4 warehouses, one each in Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad
• The company has already invested in machinery and factories and is currently looking to boost its manufacturing capability in the upcoming days
• Wakefit is now looking to continue investing in Indian language content and expanding across the country

Wakefit - FAQs

What is Wakefit?

It is a sleep solutions startup that offers comfortable mattresses and other related products such as pillows and comforters.

How much is Wakefit Valuation?

Wakefit is currently valued at INR 2,790 crores (around $375 mn) after its recent funding of INR 200 crores led by SIG, Sequoia Capital India, and Verlinvest.

Who are the founders of Wakefit?

Wakefit was founded by Ankit Garg and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda.

How much is Wakefit's Revenue?

Wakefit's revenue grew to around $55.08 mn (INR 410 crore) in FY21 from $26.74 mn (INR 199 crore) in FY20, as per its financial statements.

Who are the Top competitors of Wakefit?

Cuddl, Sunday Mattress, SleepyCat, and Wink&Nod have entered the industry in the last few years. Kurl-On and Sleepwell are also rivals to Wakefit.

Is Memory Foam bad for your back?

Memory foam mattresses are recommended for back pain. The memory foam uses body heat to soften and molds to the body shape, thus providing support and comfort.

How big is the Mattress Industry?

As per a research report published by Zion Market Research, the Global Mattress industry is growing at a CAGR of 6.5% between 2018 and 2024. India’s overall mattress market has grown at a CAGR of 11% over the last five years.