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PR Playbook · D2C sleep and home
How Wakefit turned a low-interest category into a national conversation
Wakefit stopped selling mattresses in its communications and started owning the subject of sleep. An annual research study, the Great Indian Sleep Scorecard, plus a workplace nap policy gave it a repeatable, low cost engine for recurring national coverage, built around sleep as a human subject rather than a product pitch.
Founded 2016 by Ankit Garg and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Bengaluru
How did Wakefit build attention in a low-interest category?
Wakefit stopped selling mattresses in its communications and started owning the subject of sleep. An annual research study, the Great Indian Sleep Scorecard, plus a workplace nap policy gave it a repeatable, low cost engine for recurring national coverage, built around sleep as a human subject rather than a product pitch.
- FY24 revenue, up 24% YoY
- ₹1,017 Cr
- annual edition of the Sleep Scorecard
- 8th
- total funding raised
- ~$105M
FY24 revenue, up 24% YoY
annual edition of the Sleep Scorecard
total funding raised
Figures are the company's own reported numbers, drawn from the sources below.
The context
The problem to solve
Mattresses are the textbook low-interest category. A buyer considers the product for a few days once every seven to ten years, and the conversation has long been controlled by legacy manufacturers and price-led marketplaces.
For a young, digital-first brand the problem was not distribution but attention. Without an incumbent's advertising budget, the strategic answer was to earn a permanent place in the national conversation about sleep itself.
The approach
How they earned attention
The centrepiece is the Great Indian Sleep Scorecard, an annual research study now in its eighth edition. Rather than a one-off survey, it was engineered as an ownable, repeatable media asset, refreshed every year, timed to the news cycle around World Sleep Day, and packaged with headline-ready findings journalists could lift directly.
The 2025 edition drew on more than 4,500 responses and produced the kind of quotable data newsrooms reward: 84 percent of Indians use their phones before bed, 55 percent now sleep after midnight, and 44 percent do not feel refreshed on waking.
Running alongside the data engine is a culture story. The company's internal Right to Nap policy, a calendar-blocked nap window for its 600-plus employees, was positioned as workplace wellbeing rather than a product plug, and travelled far beyond trade press into mainstream lifestyle and HR media.
“Research shows that afternoon naps help with memory, concentration, creativity, and productivity.”
Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Director and Co-founder
The results
What it added up to
Wakefit crossed the ₹1,000 crore revenue mark in FY24 at ₹1,017 crore, up 24 percent year on year, and reported roughly ₹1,310 crore for FY25, returning to EBITDA profitability with a reported EBITDA of ₹65 crore.
It has raised approximately 105 million dollars from investors including Peak XV Partners, Investcorp and Verlinvest. Earned media is only one input, but the Sleep Scorecard and nap policy gave the brand a sustained share of voice that far outweighed its media spend.
The takeaway for communicators
What we take from it
Owned data, released on a fixed calendar and built around a human subject rather than a product, is one of the most cost-efficient ways for a challenger to manufacture recurring tier-1 coverage.
Sources
Every figure and quotation above is drawn from these published sources.
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