Well, here’s something you don’t see every day. A company that sells high-tech mattresses just pulled in another hundred million dollars. Eight Sleep, the brand behind those pricey Pod beds, announced a Series D funding round that values the company at around half a billion. The investors are a mix of the usual suspects—Founders Fund, Y Combinator—and some unexpected names, like Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc.
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? The company says it’s sold over $500 million worth of these systems since it started. That’s a lot of people willing to spend a lot on sleep.
So, What Exactly Are You Buying?
The core idea is temperature control. The Pod system uses a network of water-filled tubes inside a mattress cover to heat or cool the bed. It can swing from pretty chilly, around 55 degrees, up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Built-in sensors track a bunch of biometrics while you’re out—heart rate, breathing, things like that.
An AI system, which they call Autopilot, then uses that data to tweak the temperature in real time. The goal is to keep you in an ideal sleep state. The hardware isn’t cheap. You’re looking at a minimum of twenty-five hundred for just the topper, and the full setup can easily cross the four-thousand-dollar mark.
And then there’s the subscription. For access to the more advanced features and data, it’s between seventeen and twenty-five bucks a month. It’s a model we’re seeing everywhere now, I suppose. Even for our beds.
A-List Fans and Big Ambitions
They’ve certainly attracted a crowd. The CEO, Matteo Franceschetti, started the company after his own struggles with sleep. He’s managed to get the product into the homes of some big names. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are reportedly users. Scarlett Johansson is a fan. And biohacker Bryan Johnson, who’s famously spending millions to combat aging, uses one too.
With this new cash, Franceschetti says the plan is to push further into AI and even medical applications. They’re looking at things like managing menopausal sleep issues and sleep apnea. They’re apparently even seeking FDA approval, which is a whole other ballgame.
It’s Not All Perfect Dreams
But for all the glamour and funding, the experience isn’t flawless for everyone. A scan through social media reveals a decent number of frustrated customers. Stories pop up about the system just… stopping. Glitches that leave you with a very expensive, non-functional mattress cover.
There are reports of leaks. Connectivity problems where the app won’t talk to the bed. One user recently complained about waking up freezing because the app was broken, leaving him with no way to adjust the temperature manually on his model. It does sound like a peculiar modern problem to have.
Some users also call the AI a bit of a “black box,” wishing for more transparency in how it makes its decisions.
Yet, the company is plowing ahead. Part of this funding is for developing a “Sleep Agent”—an AI that’ll run thousands of simulations a night to supposedly perfect your sleep. They’ve processed over a billion hours of sleep data. I guess the bet is that enough people will pay a premium, and a monthly fee, for a shot at a better night’s rest. Whether that’s a vision of the future or just a luxury for a few, well, that remains to be seen.
