Mattress business launches in UK after $9m funding & Richard Branson coaching

The brainchild of UK entrepreneur David Wolfe, the business is now focussed on international expansion having secured $9 million from private equity firm TitleCard Capital which leaves Leesa at a post-money valuation of $45 million.

As a testament to its success, Leesa has also won the international Shopify ‘Build a Business Competition’, alongside five other start-ups, by generating the most sales over a two-month period, between October 2014 and May 2015. Beating off competition from tens of thousands of new businesses, the team will receive personal coaching by Sir Richard Branson and a host of American all-star entrepreneurs on Necker Island – Branson’s private retreat.

David Wolfe, co-founder and chief executive officer, comments, “I’m incredibly proud to launch Leesa Mattress in the UK as our second international market – and to be manufacturing locally for this market. We at the busy intersection of an industry ripe for disruption, with a ground-breaking product, and an extraordinary local team of direct-to-consumer, online marketers, designers and operators.“Leesa is already a run-away success in the US and we’re determined to repeat this on my home turf.

This is the most exhilarating business I’ve been involved in so far and it’s unbelievable to think that after just 6 months, we’re on track to achieve $30 million in sales in our first year and have already helped more than 10,000 people sleep better.”

Leesa is disrupting the industry by fundamentally redesigning the mattress from the inside out with a UK-made, affordable luxury product that’s compressed, boxed and delivered directly to customers for a hassle-free experience.

The business has also removed the awkward experience of having to ‘try’ a mattress in the showroom with a sales person peering in. Instead, Leesa has created what they refer to as a ‘universal’ feel – moving away from the idea of a soft, medium and firm mattress – to create one that allows almost everyone to sleep better.