Priyanka Salot & The Sleep Company: Crafting Comfort, Building a Legacy 🌟
One Woman's Quest to Make India Sleep (and Sit) Better
What does it take to disrupt a decades-old industry? For Priyanka Salot, Co-founder of The Sleep Company, it involved a decade honing brand-building skills at a global giant, a personal pain point turned obsession, two years of deep R&D, and a relentless focus on the customer. This is the story of how she's revolutionizing comfort, one mattress (and chair) at a time.
We recently sat down with Priyanka on the Founder Thesis podcast for an in-depth conversation about her journey. It was packed with insights, many of which fuel this dossier.
Check out the video of the conversation here or read on for insights.
From Rajasthan Roots to IIM Calcutta: The Formative Years 🎓
Priyanka Salot's journey began far from the bustling startup hubs. Born in Rajasthan, she spent her first decade there before embarking on her educational path away from home. Like many aspiring Indians, she pursued engineering, earning her B.E. from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT).
Driven by a bigger ambition, she cracked the prestigious IIM Calcutta for her MBA (2007-2009), even including an exchange program at SDA Bocconi. It was during her time at IIM Calcutta that she met her future co-founder (and now life partner), Harshil Salot – a partnership that would later redefine India's comfort market.
The Procter & Gamble Proving Ground (Nearly a Decade) 🏢
Post-MBA, Priyanka dove headfirst into the world of consumer brands at Procter & Gamble (P&G), a journey spanning nearly ten years. This wasn't just a job; it was where she discovered her passion.
"That's where I found 2 things 1 I found the fact that I love consumer brands I love anything which is tangible where you can really make a difference and... Maybe change lives of your consumer right?"
Her tenure at P&G was marked by significant achievements and leadership roles:
P&L Ownership: She managed large businesses, including leading the $200 Million Baby Care (Pampers) India business and later the $350 Million Fabric Care (Ariel, Tide) India Sub-continent business.
Brand Building Acumen: Recognised as top 10% talent, she played key roles in award-winning campaigns like Ariel 'Share the Load' (Cannes Glass Lion winner) and drove impressive growth, like doubling the Ariel Bags business and taking Ariel top-tier detergent from #4 to #2 equity rank with +55% YoY sales growth for years.
Accolades: Received numerous internal awards, including the 'Leading with Courage' Award, CEO Award/Recognition Shares, 'Best Digital Champion' (twice), and 'Best Innovator Award'.
Despite her success, the seeds of entrepreneurship were sown, watered by reading autobiographies like Phil Knight's "Shoe Dog" and learning about Jeff Bezos' journey with Amazon.
"I think 1 thing I was always clear... when I went for my Mba that I wanted to start something of my own... I Always tell entrepreneurs if you want to start something... just take the plunge."
The Spark: Why Mattresses? 🤔
The transition from selling detergent and diapers to disrupting the mattress industry wasn't obvious. It stemmed from a deeply personal experience. While pregnant and after her son Ayan was born, Priyanka faced the universal new-mother challenge: sleepless nights, exacerbated by back pain.
"Like any new mom I think 1 thing I faced was sleepless nights... The thing they will tell you is they want sleep... that's what I was struggling a lot with... And hence I tried lot of products... It just stuck me that the quality of products that were available in india... were far behind than anywhere else in the world."
She noticed the market was stagnant. Brands focused on distribution, not innovation. People were sleeping on foam and memory foam – technologies decades old, invented before many users were even born (memory foam dates back to NASA in the 1960s!).
"Something where you spend almost one third of your every day which is one third of your life... Was still those old age form mattresses... that's when I got obsessed with changing that and I said the product needs to become better."
The R&D Deep Dive: Inventing SmartGRID 💡🔬
Instead of taking the easy route – white-labeling an existing mattress – Priyanka and Harshil committed to genuine innovation. This meant leaving the security of P&G and embarking on a challenging two-year R&D journey.
They collaborated with Dr. V. Tripati, a material scientist with decades of experience at DRDO (India Defence Labs). The brief was simple: create a mattress material fundamentally better for sleep.
"We worked with him for more than 2 years on r and d before the sleep company was born... We worked on literally thousands of formulations thousands of products... multiple multiple trials... those were the two years which were the most difficult years we didn't know will we be able to crack it right?"
The breakthrough was SmartGRID technology:
Material: A hyper-elastic polymer structured in a grid format.
Key Benefit: Adaptive firmness. The grid buckles softly under curves (shoulders, hips) for pressure relief but remains firm under broader areas (back) for support. It intelligently adapts to any body shape or sleeping position.
Cooling: The grid structure allows for airflow (over 2500 air channels in a king size), preventing the heat buildup common in foam mattresses.
Durability: Designed for high longevity, resisting sagging over time.
This patented technology (granted in India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, with more pending globally) became the foundation of The Sleep Company, which officially launched in October 2019.
Building The Sleep Company: Strategy, Scale & The Customer 📈
Launched as a digital-first brand (D2C) via their website and marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart, The Sleep Company focused on leveraging its unique product.
Core Strategies:
Product as the Hero: Believing a superior product was non-negotiable for long-term success.
"If you want to build a long-term brand... You have to have a product which... is truly truly superior differentiated and solves consumer problem."
Customer Obsession: From founders talking to early customers to embedding feedback loops across the organisation.
Brand Science: Applying P&G principles – consistency in branding (the specific blue, the grid visual), clear messaging, long-term view.
Manufacturing Control: End-to-end in-house manufacturing to protect proprietary tech and ensure quality control and faster customisation/delivery (48-72 hours for standard sizes in top metros).
D2C Advantage & Pricing: Selling direct allows competitive pricing (e.g., ~₹25,000 for a king size) despite superior tech, by avoiding the hefty 30-40% margins typical in traditional mattress retail.
Omnichannel Pivot: Realising customers wanted to experience the tech, they strategically opened their own experience centers rather than using traditional distributors, controlling the customer journey and education (with 'Sleep Labs' in stores).
Marketing Mix: Focus on education and awareness (YouTube plays a big role) and performance marketing (Google Search for high-intent customers). They brought on Anil Kapoor as a brand ambassador, chosen for credibility and sync with the brand ethos, keeping the product as the hero.
Fueling the Growth: Funding & Milestones 💰
The Sleep Company was bootstrapped for the first year, proving product-market fit through glowing customer reviews ("best medicine to cure insomnia," "cervical pain reduced drastically") and rapid organic growth.
Their funding journey reflects their trajectory:
Series A (June 2021): Raised funds from Fireside Ventures, chosen for their deep understanding of consumer brands. At the time of term sheet signing, ARR was ~₹18 Cr; by closing, it had jumped to ~₹50 Cr ARR within about 3 months!
Series B (Aug/Sep 2022): Brought Premji Invest on board, aligning with their pivot to omnichannel and leveraging Premji's offline expertise.
Series C (Oct 2023): An internal round with existing investors Fireside and Premji Invest doubling down.
Today, The Sleep Company operates at an impressive scale, targeting a ₹450 Cr+ ARR and aiming for profitability this year (FY25).
Beyond Sleep: Entering the Sitting Market with Ergo Smart 🪑
Listening to customers who loved the SmartGRID comfort but spent hours sitting, The Sleep Company expanded its vision from sleep tech to comfort tech. They launched Ergo Smart, a sub-brand dedicated to scientifically designed seating solutions using the same core SmartGRID technology.
Products: SmartGRID office chairs, loungers.
Market Position: Despite being a newer category, Ergo Smart is already a leader in the D2C ergonomic chair market in India.
Contribution: This segment now accounts for around 20% of The Sleep Company's total business.
The Vision: World's Best Comfort Tech Brand 🌍
Priyanka Salot isn't stopping at India. The vision is ambitious:
"We want to become world's best comfort tech brand... The whole world is sleep deprived... We believe with our patented product with our technology... we can create a made in India global business."
While India remains the priority, international expansion is on the horizon. The core mission remains: build a legacy brand that makes millions sleep and sit better.
Final Thoughts
Priyanka Salot's journey with The Sleep Company is a powerful case study in modern brand building. It highlights the synergy between deep R&D, strategic discipline learned in corporate giants, and an unwavering commitment to listening and adapting to customer needs. By refusing shortcuts and focusing on genuine innovation and long-term value, she is not just selling mattresses and chairs; she is crafting a legacy in comfort.
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Until the next founder's thesis📕,
Your host, AD