In a bid to shake up the ‘stagnant’ mattress market by injecting some online nous, Innocent Smoothie founder Richard Reed is joining forces with leading investors and a family of bed makers to launch Simba.
Aiming to gain the lion’s share of the £1billion UK mattress market, Simba is looking to offer a one-size-fits-all mattress that can be ordered online and delivered next day in a box to make the process of buying and getting home one of life’s most essential, but oft-overlooked, purchases.
Simba was co-founded by James Cox, Steve Reid, founder of Tribesports.com and mattress veterans, the McClements family who have been a major mattress supplier to John Lewis for decades.
James Cox explains: “People spend a third of their lives in bed; sleeping, chatting, reading, watching TV, ‘dancing in the sheets’, planning and laughing. That’s a lot of life lived out on their faithful mattress. But, traditionally, making a mattress purchase is expensive and confusing for the buyer. We wanted to create a product that addressed an issue and made people’s lives that bit better, in terms of comfort and convenience.”
Simba’s pioneering online ‘bed in a box’ concept, he believes, allows your mattress – ingeniously rolled up and boxed – to be delivered to your door the next day. No more awkward manoeuvres in the hallway. Simba is so confident in their product that they are also offering a 100-night no hassle return service.
Cox continues: “Our data shows that you don’t need to worry about whether the bed is hard or soft, what matters is creating something that responds to the needs of the individual. Our revolutionary technology has been so successful we are seeing a series of copycats looking to replicate what we are doing. But, no one offers the combination of Simbatex, memory foam and our 2500 patented conical springs – something we know from research gives us the edge over competitors. Simba is the only mattress that gives you the best of both worlds so you never have to compromise on comfort and support.”
With the UK’s mattress market estimated to be worth around £1 billion, the potential is so exciting, Simba has secured backing from a series of heavyweight UK investors including Richard Reed co-founder of Innocent Drinks, who engineered Innocent from a small stand at a music festival to an internationally renowned and respected giant.
Reed says: “The UK mattress market is ripe for innovation. Today, people don’t want the hassle of multiple options when making a purchase. But what you get when you walk into a bed store is confusing advice, fueling the fear you won’t get a good night’s sleep and a lengthy purchase and delivery process.”
He continues: “There is a massive opportunity in the UK for Simba to lead on product innovation in this category and to build a brilliant brand that people will trust and recommend to their friends. Not only is it British, but the clever design, packaged in a cool portable box with guaranteed next day delivery is what people really want. And Simba is boxing and delivering in the thousands.”
Tom Teichman, co-founder The Garage Soho and one of the UK’s most influential investors in UK tech having backed the likes of lastminute.com, notonthehighstreet.com and made.com adds: “We’re always looking for something that will disrupt a sector. It’s crazy that in today’s society when people demand simple solutions to everyday problems they are faced with a deliberately confusing decision making process when it comes to buying a mattress. We loved what the boys at Simba have managed to do and wanted to help them build the Simba brand into a UK household name.”
