From Sleeplessness to Success

The dream journey of The Sleep Company from being a D2C startup founded to help Indians sleep better to crossing 100 stores and ₹500 crore ARR under five years to become one of the fastest growing D2C-first brands

- Shiv Joshi

Their story

Founders Priyanka and Harshil Salot were classmates at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta from 2007 to 2009. Post B-school, Priyanka worked for JPMorgan Chase and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan before joining P&G while Harshil worked at Axis Bank as an investment banker before joining his family's manufacturing business.

The birth of their child changed everything for them. As a new mother, she struggled to catch a good night's sleep, not just because her little one woke her up at odd hours but also because of the lack of a comfortable mattress. Unable to find the right mattress, she left her job, dedicating herself to the pursuit of developing the right mattress.

The mattress industry has seen little innovation since 1960, when memory foam was invented. She travelled extensively, to Japan, Europe and the US, meeting hundreds of technicians and sleep experts until she finally met Dr. A K Tripathi.

With his 40 years of experience in material science, she spent years working with Dr. Tripathi, a former DRDO scientist, which led to two years of dedicated R&D. This collaboration resulted in the development of its patented SmartGRID technology and led to the establishment of The Sleep Company in 2019 with her husband and co-founder Harshil Salot.

The invention of the product led to the launch of a business that would change the sleep habits of lakhs of Indians.

In a little over four years since starting its operations in 2019 as a D2C brand, The Sleep Company (TSC) reached the milestone of achieving an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of ₹500 crore, emerging as a force to be reckoned with in a market dominated majorly by unorganised players and a handful of legacy brands.