India’s leading sleep solutions company, Duroflex has raised $60 Mn from Norwest Venture Partners for its house of brands – Duroflex & Sleepyhead. Norwest is a Silicon Valley based investment firm that has invested in several of large tech first consumer companies including Swiggy, Pepperfry, Mensa, Vuori, Udemy, Casper, Calm, Uber, and Spotify. The fund raise was advised and managed by Avendus Capital.
In 2018, Duroflex raised growth capital of $22 Mn from Lighthouse Funds. Since then, the company has grown 3X through focused retail and online expansion led by its omnichannel brand Duroflex and D2C brand Sleepyhead.
The company operates its business under two main brands Duroflex and Sleepyhead. Duroflex is the largest omnichannel player in the mattress category with 33% of its revenues coming from e-commerce. Duroflex is also a strong B2B player with marquee clients like Ikea, Stanley and is now actively pursuing export opportunities. Sleepyhead is a leading online mattress brand focussed exclusively on digital-native millennials.
“In 2018, we were thrilled to have Lighthouse join our cap table. They brought in their uniquely empathic & growth mindset and high governance standards. This helped us to grow the business by 3X. The economic recovery has indeed been “K shaped”, and we are fortunate to be on the right side of this recovery. In Norwest, we found a similarly empathic investor who also has deep roots in innovative Silicon Valley and a strong technology focus. Their capital and experience will be invaluable as we scale our business nationally, penetrate via D2C and digital, and deeply engage in sleep science. This year we were formally certified as a Great Place to Work, and we also want to be a great place to invest. We are excited about our new partnership and our future.” said, Mathew Chandy, Sleep Evangelist & MD, Duroflex.
Duroflex with its over 50 years of expertise has led some category first innovations like Doctor recommended Orthopedic mattress range, world-class Experience Centres focused on shopper experience and education, and creating India’s first sleep content IP, Sounds of Sleep. The brand has previously partnered RCB, CSK amongst many other celebrities and now has the leading Bollywood superstar, Alia Bhatt as its brand ambassador to scale its national growth journey.
Sleepyhead is a fun, young digital brand that is not afraid to push boundaries and be quirky. Launched in 2017 to cater to the ever-growing demand for mattresses online especially amongst first-time consumers, the brand is rapidly expanding into other adjacent categories. The brand offers innovative & comfortable solutions at delightful prices and benefits like ‘100 days free trial’ making the brand an internet sensation.
Commenting on the funding, Mathew Joseph, Co-Founder Sleepyhead, said “Sleepyhead is focussed on the younger, digitally native millennials and Gen Z who are now coming into the workforce. Our products, prices, and experiences cater to their ever-evolving needs making us one of the leading brands in the D2C space. Our future focus is to strengthen our non-mattress category which includes beds, sofas, and sleep accessories.”
Commenting on the investment, Shiv Chaudhary, MD at Norwest said, “Norwest is delighted to partner with Duroflex, which is a very special company that delivers excellence in everything it does; right from its pan-India manufacturing and distribution network to its sharp focus on product quality, innovation and consumer experience. Its strong team culture and approach to building a truly omnichannel business is laying the foundation for further scale and a compelling IPO in the future.”
Duroflex & Sleepyhead are growing at a rapid pace and this investment is a further impetus to accelerate their growth and change the way the country experiences and consumes sleep essentials.
Source: Business World
