Hug Sleep
17145 W. Bluemound Road, Brookfield
hugsleep.com
As a troubled sleeper, Matt Mundt was searching for tips for better sleep when he discovered the benefits and drawbacks of weighted blankets.
While the blankets aid some sleepers, they often trap in heat, are hard to wash and are difficult to transport.
In 2018, after several months of brainstorming, prototyping and iterating, he came up with his own solution: a light-weight blanket that simulates the feeling of a weighted blanket.
“The next morning, I woke up feeling well rested – something I had not felt in a while,” said Mundt, a graduate of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. “It was at that moment I realized others could benefit from this product and that I had a real shot at creating a successful business.”
Mundt co-founded Hug Sleep, maker of the flagship Sleep Pod product, in 2019 with his wife, Angie Kupper. Their breakthrough came a year later, when the startup was catapulted to the national spotlight during its appearance on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Hug Sleep not only left the show with a $300,000 investment but later did $4 million in sales thanks to the exposure of its product.
“Appearing on the television show ‘Shark Tank’ exposed our company and product to an entirely new audience at a scale we had not previously experienced,” Mundt said. “The viewers resonated with our product and mission at a time of peak anxiety and uncertainty in the world due to COVID, at a time when many more people had difficulty sleeping. The result was record-breaking sales and exposure which helped launch Hug Sleep into its next chapter as a company.”
