Smart mattress startup Bryte has just raised $24M in Series A funding led by ARCHina Capital. The company, which was founded in 2016, has developed a mattress that uses sensor data and artificial intelligence to adjust temperature, pressure points, and other settings for customized optimal sleep.
With the closeout of the funding round, Bryte also announced that it would be pivoting to licensing its technology to other mattress providers while continuing to sell directly to consumers. The company's patenting behavior suggests that this move may have been in the works for a few years. Bryte currently has four (4) published patent applications and one issued patent. The company's first patent was filed in 2017. After two years without further patent activity, Bryte filed three applications on the same day in 2019 for sleep phase detection and environmental control. Was that an early indication of the shift to a licensing strategy?
Patents are vital for protecting IP and also make companies more attractive investments. There are a number of smart mattress companies that may be interested in licensing from Bryte. Sleep Number is a leader in patented mattress technology, as are Eight Sleep and Keeson, which also owns Ergomotion. You can keep track of how the patent data aligns with these companies' business ventures by subscribing to the Consumer Sleep Patent Forecast®.
