Casper, a company with hopes of delivering a better sleep experience, better designed mattresses and a superior delivery system, has announced the close of a $1.6 million dollar seed round. Led by Lerer Ventures, the round also includes investments from Norwest Venture Partners, Crosslink Partners, Vaizra Investments, and Correlation Ventures.
Casper’s founding team is a mix of e-commerce professionals and design engineers who share a vision to boost creativity, productivity, and health through an improved sleep experience. Philip Krim, co-founder and CEO, sold over 40,000 beds online through an e-commerce company he started as a sophomore at the University of Texas. Jeff Chapin, co-founder and product lead, worked on R&D and design for Sealy while at IDEO in Boston.
Casper, launching in late Spring, will initially offer a single mattress construction. The mattress is designed and engineered with comfort in mind: it contours to the body, reduces pressure, eliminates sinking in and overheating, but also provides excellent bounce-back – a welcome addition for mattress activities other than sleep. By eliminating costs associated with retail partnerships, distribution, and storage, Casper is able to reinvest in the product.
“We’ve made a concerted effort to focus on the elements that actually affect sleep – you would be shocked at the games retailers and manufacturers play solely for marketing purposes with no added benefit to the consumer,” says Krim. “It’s a liberating opportunity to make a bed from scratch, solely on our own terms.”
“I have been sleeping on a Casper for the last couple of months and I can only say that the sleep is awesome,” says Ben Lerer, Managing Director at Lerer Ventures. “The entire team is perfectly suited to take their vision of what people need for a better night’s sleep and transform the entire category.”
“Mattress shopping is a viewed by a large percentage of the market as one of the more difficult and frustrating shopping experiences, only surpassed by the experience of buying a used car,” said Josh Goldman, general partner at Norwest Venture Partners. “Casper is focused on fixing this archaic process that consumers endure today by bringing a high quality product to the $12.4B mattress market at an extremely disruptive price point. We have the utmost confidence that the leadership and design expertise of this team will deliver some much-needed transparency to the sleep industry.”
Casper products will be available in the coming months and the company is currently accepting applicants for their beta testing program.
