India’s mattress industry, which is usually not in the spotlight, finds itself in a strange new place in 2025.

Almost a decade after Sheela Foam, the parent company of popular mattress brand Kurlon and Sleepwell went public, another popular mattress manufacturer Duroflex is heading for a public listing in the next 18 months. And there’s Wakefit from the startup ecosystem, which is also gunning for the bourses.

Now, everyone wants to know more about how to judge mattress companies. But the thing is, Wakefit is more than just that today. The startup has diversified in the past four years to become a furniture and mattress brand, so much so that the balance is now shifting.

The Bengaluru-based startup, a much younger company compared to legacy giants Sheela and Duroflex, filed its IPO papers to raise INR 468 Cr ($546 Mn) via fresh issue of shares. Promoters Ankit Garg and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda and investors such as Peak XV Partners, Redwood Trust, Paramark and Verlinvest will sell their shares in the IPO.

And there’s good reason to believe that Wakefit has found a formula that’s been missing for many D2C brands that emerged around 2015 and 2016.

Laying The Foundation

The push into furniture in 2019 has likely taken Wakefit beyond the INR 1,000 Cr mark in revenue in FY25. It reported revenue of INR 971 Cr for the first nine months, which is about the same as its whole year revenue for FY24. This indicates a 20-25% growth in terms of revenue compared to FY24.

Plus, Wakefit’s EBITDA improved to INR 76.4 Cr (7.87% EBITDA margin) in 9MFY25 (As of December 2024) and operational profit touched INR 6.4 Cr in 9M FY25 after losses in the previous two fiscals. This indicates the business is seeing benefits of operating leverage, and the INR 8.8 Cr loss on a consolidated basis is certainly not a worrying factor at this scale.

For context, the company reported a net loss of INR 15 Cr in FY24 against a similar revenue base. So how much of a role did the shift to furniture play in this turnaround?

While the mattress segment is a cornerstone for the startup, Wakefit’s furniture business has grown the fastest in the last three years. The startup’s growing offline presence is a key factor in this shift.

From a single company-owned store in FY22, Wakefit had 98 stores as of December 2024.........

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