Online mattress retailer Eve Sleep floats on AIM, raises £35m

Eve Sleep, a London-based online mattress retailer, has floated on AIM raising £35m.

The business, founded two years ago and now worth £140m, will divert the funds raised towards its advertising and marketing strategy as well as for general working capital.

Having previously raised $20.03m in equity funding from investors including Octopus Ventures and Woodford Investment Management, Eve Sleep is expected to begin trading on AIM on 18th May.

Jas Bagniewski, the founder and chief executive, said in a statement: “Today marks a new dawn in our vision to be Europe’s leading sleep brand. With our simplified direct-to-consumer proposition, we are disrupting a fragmented European market, which is forecast to be worth approximately £26bn by 2019.

“The funds raised will accelerate our growth strategy including through deepening penetration within our ten existing markets, as well as expanding our product range,” he added.

It’s getting increasingly harder to define what makes a company a technology company and whether the likes of Eve Sleep classify as such.

Unlike traditional mattress retailers, Eve Sleep operates online only and sells just one type of foam mattress, which once purchased is compressed and shipped off to consumers. The company also designs and sells pillows and bedding.

The company says revenue increased to £12m last year from £2.6m in 2015, when it first began operating. Its growth, it adds, is mostly due to “establishing and increasing market share in the UK, expanding into new overseas market and the introduction of new product lines”.

Luke Hakes, investment director at Octopus Ventures, and one of the firm’s earliest investors, congratulated the team on its flotation.

He added: “When we first backed eve back in May 2015, and twice again since, we knew the team were unusually talented entrepreneurs who would dare to go big and create change, and that’s exactly what they have done – including marking the first retail IPO of 2017! We are incredibly proud of having been involved in Eve, and wish the team all the best for their ongoing success.”