Eight Sleep raises $50M at $1.5B valuation

Eight Sleep, a leading innovator in sleep technology, has successfully secured $50 million in a funding round spearheaded by Tether Investments, bringing its valuation to a striking $1.5 billion. This latest investment follows a substantial $100 million funding round completed last August, which attracted prominent investors including HSG, Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, and Y Combinator. The smart mattress company, known for its advanced sleep tracking accessories that adjust temperature based on user patterns, has seen remarkable growth, having previously achieved a valuation of $500 million post-money in 2021 after an $86 million Series C funding round. To date, Eight Sleep has raised over $310 million, as reported by Crunchbase. The company has announced plans to utilize the new funding for product development, global market expansion, and clinical validation. Currently, its products are available in more than 34 countries. Looking ahead, Eight Sleep is striving to venture beyond consumer products. They are seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for innovative solutions designed to detect and alleviate sleep apnea. Matteo Franceschetti, co-founder and CEO, highlighted the company's ambitious vision: "What we’re building doesn’t exist yet — a system that understands your body better each night and acts on that knowledge. Our goal is to build the defining health technology company of this generation." The company is also developing a sleep-focused AI agent intended to proactively manage temperature, elevation, and firmness settings to prevent disruptions during sleep. This AI will simulate various scenarios to optimize the user's sleep experience before they settle in for the night. Eight Sleep's AI models are trained on proprietary data, and early trials have shown promising results, with users adjusting their habits—such as exercise timing, caffeine consumption, and sleep schedules—based on insights from the accompanying app. Last year, they introduced a temperature-controlled hydro blanket and a new pillow cover designed to regulate head and neck temperature. However, Eight Sleep faced challenges last October when a critical AWS outage caused disruptions, rendering some of its mattress accessories inoperable. This incident prompted the company to implement an "outage mode" feature for its products. In the competitive landscape of sleep technology, Eight Sleep goes head-to-head with brands like BedJet and Chillpad for temperature control solutions, and with Oura and Whoop in the sleep tracking arena.