Cradlewise raised $7 million from Footwork, CRV, SOSV and Better Capital
Cradlewise has raised $7 million in a seed from venture capital firms Footwork, CRV, SOSV and Better Capital where Katrina Lake (founder of Stitch Fix), Jeremy Cai (CEO of Italic) and Dilip Goswani (CTO of Molekule) also participated.
Cradlewise creates smart cribs for babies that combine the functionality of a crib, a bassinet, and a smart monitor. The global market for baby care products is expected to grow from $70.52 billion in 2021 to $88.72 billion in 2026. Cradlewise currently ships directly through its website, cradlewise.com.
In 2022, plans are also in the works to expand availability through other e-commerce websites. Cradlewise, a Silicon Valley-based startup that makes smart cribs for babies, has raised $7 million in a seed funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm Footwork.
VC firm CRV participated in the fundraising, as did SOSV and Better Capital, and angels like Stitch Fix founder Katrina Lake, Italic CEO Jeremy Cai and Molekule CTO Dilip Goswami. The capital will be used to accelerate the company’s innovation and technology roadmap and grow its team in India. The startup has office .
“We are so excited to be working with such well regarded VC firms and angel investors who have a deep understanding of connected hardware and the consumer market,” said Radhika Patil, Co-Founder of Cradlewise. “We believe that Cradlewise is uniquely positioned in this competitive space as the only smart sleep product designed to impact an outcome and not just give notifications.
We will continue to lead in this space by expanding the capabilities of the product in the areas of a baby’s health and safety.”
Nikhil Basu Trivedi, co-founder & General Partner at Footwork joins the board of this fast-growing startup in the $136+ billion child care market. “Cradlewise is the only baby product in the market that uses deep tech and AI to learn the baby’s sleep patterns and growth trends.
With software updates that build on this rich data, a characteristic of the very best connected hardware companies such as Nest, Peloton, Tesla, and Tonal, Cradlewise is pioneering the connected nursery,” said Nikhil.
Mike Smith, Footwork co-founder & General Partner, and former President & COO at Stitch Fix, said: “Baby care has always been a challenge. The pandemic has only made it more challenging for new parents. Cradlewise is on a mission to help sleep deprived parents so that they can spend more quality wake time with babies.”
“Cradlewise isn’t just a smart crib, it is a mental health solution for parents,” said Kristin Baker Spohn, General Partner at CRV. “Having spent much of my career focused on the intersection of technology and health, Cradlewise is a great example of how smart technology can be used to help ensure that both babies and their parents can get a good night’s rest, which is truly one of the most important elements for staying healthy.”
“As a working mom of 3 kids, I’m excited to see the next generation of solutions for our kids coming from parents themselves. Hearing Radhika’s founding inspiration, to build a crib for her baby to solve the sleep challenges she experienced balancing work and family, it is a mission and product I instantly connected with,” said Katrina Lake, founder of Stitch Fix.
The company maintains offices in both the San Francisco Bay Area, California and Bangalore, India. The funds will be used to accelerate the company’s innovation and technology roadmap and grow their team with senior hires in marketing, operations and product.
It currently ships to anywhere in the US directly via cradlewise.com. Plans are also underway to expand availability through other e-commerce websites in 2022.
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