Wakefit gave legacy mattress players a back pain. But can it stay a disruptor?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Bengaluru: On a quiet Sunday evening, at a small Wakefit showroom in Bengaluru’s bustling Ejipura neighbourhood, near Koramangala, 39-year-old Vinesh walked in to try out mattresses for his family of three. A tech professional, Vinesh sat down multiple times on a king-size ‘orthopaedic’ memory foam mattress in the store that also stocked bed frames, coffee tables, dining tables and three-seater sofas.

He is a ‘repeat’ customer—previously, he bought a coffee table and two sleeping pillows from Wakefit, a mattress startup that also sells furniture now. Vinesh wanted to replace a five-year-old foam mattress made by Kurlon. “I have tried multiple mattress brands before.

I used Kurlon for the longest time. Recently, I bought one from Sleepyhead (another mattress company) for my 70-year-old mother. The new brands are good," Vinesh said.

Wakefit’s products are good value for money, he added. “The coffee table is aesthetic, while the pillows have retained their original shape," he said, adding that he believes the mattress he tried out won’t disappoint. In the last few years, young India’s shift to new mattress companies, fuelled by a steady stream of venture capital funding, has been nothing short of spectacular.

Wakefit, particularly, has been a leader—the startup grew its revenue 12 times in the last five years, ending with nearly ₹1,000 crore in 2023-24. This fast rise has troubled legacy players. Take Kurlon, for instance.

The company is over six decades old, having started in 1962 as Karnataka Coir Products Pvt. Ltd in Arsikere, a town in Karnataka. In July 2023, Sheela Foam Ltd acquired Kurlon.