With $5.6 million in Series A funding led by Three Leaf Ventures, Beddr is launching a new product in the sleep space. Other investors in the round included the Stanford-StartX Fund, Delta Dental Washington Seed Fund, and I.T. Farm.
Now available for pre-order, the Beddr SleepTuner is the initial step in the company’s plan to deliver an integrated, digital approach to understanding and improving sleep.
“Working with leading sleep medicine experts, we’re bringing science into consumers’ homes with the first comprehensive solution that helps individuals understand factors impacting their sleep,” says Mike Kisch, co-founder and CEO of Beddr, in a release. “The Beddr SleepTuner helps people objectively understand the impact of sleep position, weight loss, alcohol consumption, as well as current treatments on overall sleep quality. Every morning, an individual will be presented with clinical grade insights and actions that may improve breathing, increase sleep duration, reduce snoring, and improve recuperation.”
The Beddr approach integrates a sleep sensor, mobile app, and predictive analytics. The SleepTuner’s sensor is designed for comfort and ease of use when worn while sleeping over the course of multiple nights. It captures and correlates data points that include blood oxygen saturation, stopped breathing events, heart rate, heart rate spikes and sleep position. The SleepTuner connects wirelessly with the Beddr mobile app, guiding users through the “sleep tuning” process. The app compares each sleep assessment result to the prior one so users can see the impact of sleep tuning over time.
Beddr will ship an FDA-listed solution that leverages the science used in sleep labs, according to the company. “The Beddr SleepTuner is based on the best practices we use in a sleep clinic,” says Brandon R. Peters, MD, a practicing neurologist and board-certified sleep physician at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, who also sits on Beddr’s clinical advisory board. “As more and more people come to understand the importance of high-quality sleep, the demand for sleep expertise is exploding, and yet the supply of board-certified sleep physicians cannot keep up with demand. Existing solutions on the market have limitations; they’re either inaccessible to most people due to high cost and complexity, or they are not accurately gathering the right information to deliver clinically valid insights. We need to manage this gap and find new approaches to solve our nation’s sleep problems. Beddr is doing just that.”
The Series A funding will support the commercial launch of the Beddr SleepTuner, as well as further development of the company’s integrated sleep approach. In the future, Beddr expects to offer seamless access to board-certified sleep physicians, personalized treatment options, and ongoing coaching and support to drive improved outcomes at lower costs.
“I’ve experienced the sleep medicine system first hand. Ultimately, it helped me, but it took a long time for me to find the best solution to my chronic sleep problems. We invested in Beddr because we believe sleep disorders are vastly under-diagnosed and under-treated, and that the Beddr system can make a real difference,” says Kiki Broe, partner at Three Leaf Ventures. “Beddr’s team is the perfect combination of seasoned leadership and repeat entrepreneurs from medical device companies like Shockwave Medical; consumer marketing expertise at Johnson and Johnson; and technology innovators from companies like Amazon and Mint.”
