I am thrilled to share that Simba Sleep, the leading UK sleep company, was recently acquired by a strategy buyer (terms and name remain confidential).
I led the very first round in Simba Sleep, as an angel in early 2016. In 2018, Simba was ranked #2 of the top 100 UK start up list by Startups UK.
As a fund, we do not invest in consumers. Although arguably it did tick a lot of boxes. There was no brand loyalty to mattresses, a long chain of intermediaries (each with a margin along the way) and the buying experience was not great (long wait, and you had to figure out how to get rid of your old mattress).
US based Casper had paved the way addressing those inefficiencies in what became to be known as bed-tech (😂). Simba offered a cool brand, a very comfortable product, white glove and fast delivery, picking up  your old mattress.
UK based Eve started a few months before Simba, and Europe was up for grabs.
Simba experienced very fast growth from the get go. However, such was the popularity of the sector, that within a couple of years it felt like a new mattress business was launched every week. How many mattress companies does one need?
The whole market soon went into a crisis mode, and many new entrants went bust. And Simba emerged as the leader in the UK market.
In the end, as always, the team makes the difference. I would like to highlight the remarkable work done by CEO Steve Reid, who took over a fast growing but cash burning business and turned it into a cash flow positive business, under the outstanding supervision of all-star Chairman Alan Leighton (among many other roles: Chairman and former CEO of Asda, former CEO of Pandora, and former non executive Chairman of Royal Mail).