A member of Tesla's board of directors is Miami-based Eight Sleep's newest backer.
The sleep technology company on Monday announced it closed an $86 million Series C financing round led by Valor Equity Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm headquartered in Chicago. Valor's founder and CEO is Antonio Gracias, a tech investor who serves on the boards of Tesla and SpaceX in California.
Eight Sleep co-founder and CEO Matteo Franceschetti said the startup will use the capital injection to scale its remote and Miami-based team, and invest in research and development. The company currently has about 50 employees.
"We want to develop new technology for sleep enhancement and body scanning, and to do that we'll need to hire a lot," he said.
Silicon Valley-based SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund and General Catalyst also participated in the financing round. It comes months after Eight Sleep raised an equity round from a variety of celebrity and professional athlete investors, including retired MLB player and entrepreneur Alex Rodriguez and actor Kevin Hart.
Founded in 2014, Eight Sleep was among a wave of tech businesses that relocated to Miami in 2020. The company has raised more than $160 million for the development and commercialization of its signature Pod Pro mattress, which can regulate temperature and analyze a user's movement and sleep phases to improve the quality of their slumber. Eight Sleep reports its products help customers fall asleep up to 40% faster, experience up to 30% fewer tosses and turns, and increase deep sleep by 20%.
That technology aims to help users squeeze in better quality rest in less time. According to Eight Sleep, if a person can improve their sleep efficiency by 25%, they don't need a full eight hours of sleep.
That's caught the attention of professional athletes, who require restful sleep to support their physical recovery and optimize performance. Eight Sleep's investors include Chicago Cubs outfielder Kris Bryant and Red Sox outfielder J.D. Martinez, and the company reports at least 100 professional athletes are customers. The startup recently teamed with the NBA's Sacramento Kings to bring the Eight Sleep Pod Pro to the entire team.
The sleep technology sector is only in its infancy, said Valor CEO Gracias, who serves on Eight Sleep's board of directors. That's a big opportunity for investors who back early startups in the field.
Sleep technology makes up one part of the globe's $1.5 trillion wellness market, according to McKinsey & Co. Sleep wellness products – including everything from weighted blankets to app-enabled sleep trackers – are in demand as more consumers seek out items that will enhance the quality of their rest.
"The opportunity is limitless, as we spend up to a third of our lives asleep," Gracias said. "The first night I slept on the Pod, I knew we had to get involved."
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