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The Neuro Experience Podcast: My episode with Matteo Franceschetti is out!

We discuss the the future of sleep tech, how Eight Sleep plans to reinvent the sleep fitness game and how to optimise your sleep for better performance.

You can listen to the entire conversation here.

Neuro Athletes, 

Sleep, alongside diet and exercise, plays a major role in maintaining physical, cognitive, and emotional health. Like diet and exercise, achieving the needs of sleep requires the individual to engage in volitional behaviors, and the sleeping satisfaction, patterns, and times vary from individuals to individuals. However, despite the variations, one thing is consistent; on average, people worldwide do not get enough. The consequences of sleep inadequacy are far from benign. Sleep deprivation impairs memory and decreases cognitive function.

Some of the most devastating catastrophes are partly attributed to sleep loss and compromised occupational performance during night shifts, including the tragedies of the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear plant, Exxon Valdez oil spill, and space shuttle Challenger Explosion (Mitler et al., 2008). Besides incurring millions of dollars in financial costs to clean up, such incidents also have a significant impact on public health and safety. 

Everyone wishes they could get more done in a day, but there are extenuating circumstances, personal weaknesses, and sometimes, random factors that get in the way of us achieving our highest levels of productivity.

You might experience a bit of extra stress, give in to a few extra distractions and deal with a finnicky internet connection on any given day, but there’s one factor that rises above the others in terms of its collective role in sabotaging our productivity — and it’s costing us a cumulative $411 billion in productivity losses.

Sleep Deprivation & The Economy

The US sustains by far the highest economic losses (up to $411 billion a year) due to the size of its economy, followed by Japan (up to $138 billion a year).

However, the relative numbers show that the estimated loss for Japan is actually higher than for the US (between 1.56 to 2.28 per cent for the US and 1.86 per cent to 2.92 per cent for Japan, respectively), with the UK (1.36 per cent to 1.86 per cent), Germany (1.02 per cent to 1.56 per cent) and Canada (0.85 per cent to 1.56 per cent) following behind.

US citizens spend $430 billion each year on sleep aids.

Meanwhile, about $430 billion is spent each year on sleep aids by people trying to achieve optimal sleep. The global sleep economy is expected to grow to $585 billion by 2024, according to market and consumer data company Statista. And even with all of that money spent, the majority of adults still get poor sleep.

On an annual basis, the US loses an equivalent of about 1.23 million working days due to insufficient sleep.

This is followed by Japan, which loses on average 604 thousand working days per year. The UK and Germany have similar working time lost, with 207 thousand and 209 thousand days, respectively. Canada loses about 78 thousand working days.

Sleep deprivation is linked to a higher mortality risk.

An individual that sleeps on average less than six hours per night has a ten per cent higher mortality risk than someone sleeping between seven and nine hours. An individual sleeping between six to seven hours per day still has a four per cent higher mortality risk.

Making an Investment in Sleep Tech

An ecosystem of manufacturers, retailers, health service providers, and pharmaceutical companies has formed around sleep health. They offer a growing array of products and services to help Americans treat sleep insufficiency. The sleep-health industry is collectively estimated to be worth $30 billion to $40 billion and is growing, with few signs of slowing down.

Sleep health presents a variety of opportunities for a wide mix of consumer-facing companies and investors. That’s because sleep health can be addressed through three types of solutions:

Optimizing ambience. Turning the bedroom into a sleep sanctuary offers a number of opportunities, starting with the $8 billion mattress market and the multibillion-dollar bedding industry.

Using therapeutic treatments. Millions of Americans also turn to treatment-based remedies. Prescription medications generate well over $1 billion a year in sales in the United States, while over-the-counter sleep aids generate hundreds of millions of dollars of additional sales. There is also a growing market for natural and homeopathic sleep products.

Meanwhile, consumers with more severe sleeping challenges are turning to professional diagnostic and treatment options. For instance, there are approximately 2,800 sleep labs across the country, which generate over $7 billion a year in revenue—on track to reach $10 billion in the next five years.

Modifying routines. Most parents understand the value of establishing a consistent bedtime routine for young children, yet few adults have regular bedtime routines that set them up for a good night’s sleep. This could change as more sleep experts advocate the benefits of preparing your body and mind to get to sleep faster and stay asleep longer.

The Opportunity

A number of startups have emerged in the past five years that aim to inject technology into our sleep routine, a small part of our day that has an outsized impact on the quality of our waking hours and overall health.

Founders Fund invested in sleep fitness company Eight Sleep in 2019, leading its $40 million Series C. Eight Sleep developed a heating and cooling mattress, and has received somewhat of a “cult” following, with athletes, technology CEOs and other people singing the company’s praises.

Based on the growing awareness of the mental, physical, and economic costs of sleep insufficiency, consumers are increasingly seeking out new solutions. The benefits to be gained are real, and there’s little doubt that the sleep-health economy will offer robust investment opportunities for private-equity firms and growth opportunities for consumer-focused portfolio companies over the next several years. For private-equity firms, it’s about identifying the sleep-oriented companies that have consumer permission to scale; for portfolio companies, it’s about pinpointing an authentic strategy to play in sleep health.

Improve Your Fitness Through Sleep

Eight Sleep is the premier sleep fitness company that powers human performance through optimal sleep.

The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep is the most advanced solution on the market for thermoregulation. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking. It comes in the form of both a mattress, or a cover you can put on your existing mattress. Get the Pod and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F.

The temperature of the Pod Pro will adjust each side of the bed based on your sleep stages, biometrics, and bedroom temperature, reacting intelligently to create the optimal sleeping environment.

The result?

Eight Sleep users fall asleep up to 32% faster, reduce sleep interruptions by 40%, and get overall more restful sleep.

The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep is so popular, it has garnered attention from CEOs, pro athletes, and overall high performers who want to get sleep fit. Because good sleep is the ultimate game changer.

This holiday season, give yourself or a loved one a gift that keeps getting better night after night