We are sleep pioneers, a team of experts fascinated by science, technology and design. The beauty of our mission unites us: helping people be better at sleep.
It all started four years ago. When our founders, Hugo Mercier and Quentin Soulet de Brugière, were students at École Polytechnique, and first heard about the extraordinary scientific discovery: that sound stimulations can improve the quality of deep sleep. This marked the beginning of our adventure. As we delved into the world of sleep, we were struck by the extent of the problem.
The sleep crisis is severe. One-third of the population sleeps poorly. 10% suffers from chronic insomnia and 20% from sleep apnea. Poor sleep costs the global economy one trillion euros each year. And its health effects are devastating. The current sleeping products, from pills, to mattresses and sleep trackers, are ultimately ineffective. Dreem's mission is to provide a better solution.
We started from scratch. We knew that to tackle sleep issues effectively, we had to understand them. And that couldn't be done without measuring sleep accurately. Our goal was to develop a product capable of measuring brain activity in real time, overnight. The challenge was seemingly impossible. We had to design an entirely new product that was at once comfortable, practical, and elegant.
Our first eight months were filled with iterations, failures, and changes of direction. We worked around the clock. Our team, which consisted of a dozen people at the time, was tight-knit, wildly talented, and most importantly, more motivated than ever.
At the end of 2015, just one year in, we'd already filed about ten patents. And we had our first functional prototype: a headband that measured brain activity, analyzed sleep in real time, and transmitted sound stimuli that enhanced deep sleep. To test our prototype, we decided to launch Dreem First Program. From over 7,000 applicants who pre-ordered Dreem's beta version, we selected 500 early adopters to participate. This was the beginning of our first industrialization phase, which was unusually complex due to the nature of the product. The beta bands were successfully delivered to the 500 members of the Dreem First Program in September 2016.
We knew we couldn't just focus on industrialization; we were also obsessed with improving the design and product. We were creating a solution that would be used by thousands. It had to be perfect. And this demanded excellence on all fronts: flawless service, smart communications, continuous improvement of product performance, and outstanding design for our app and headband.
This quest for perfection was internal too. We carefully considered how to build our identity, culture, and values. We streamlined our recruitment processes, enhanced our working methods, and improved our brand communications. By the end of 2016, Dreem was no longer a small start-up: We had grown to fifty.
We learned a lot from beta users' feedback and used it to improve our product. We redesigned the headband and made it lighter, more comfortable, and more flexible. We amped up the accuracy of sleep measurements and developed a new and comprehensive app. Beyond deep-sleep stimulations and smart alarm, we added sleep features to address a wider range of sleep issues.
In June 2017, we officially announced the European and American launches of the Dreem Band to the general public. Shipping started in December. We were featured in the press and news quickly spread by word-of-mouth. Dreem succeeded in attracting and convincing thousands of users to get on board. Mission accomplished.
To become the standard for sleep enhancement, we needed to take things a step further. We wanted to offer a richer, more personalized, and more science-backed experience. This meant inventing and developing new concepts, testing them on different sleeper profiles, and iterating continually. That's why we created the Adventurers Program.
This allowed us to improve our product faster by testing research leads on hundreds of volunteer Dreem users. We also realized that we needed to engage more with our users. To help them understand that they are the key to their own sleep and guide them in changing certain behaviors. Sleep is a whole, and adjusting habits is one of the best ways to boost it. In October 2018, we launched a new Dreem app: Dreem Coach. It features a three-step sleep improvement program that's highly engaging and personalized.
In June 2018, we made an exciting announcement: We raised an additional €30 million in funding. Johnson & Johnson and BPI have invested in Dreem's future. This allows us to look forward to the next 5 years with confidence and renewed ambition. Our long-term vision is clear. We want to become the reference point for sleep improvement. We have equally clear short- and medium-term goals to get us there. We want to optimize our technology by making it invisible. Develop new programs to further personalize the experience and tackle more sleep issues. Continue to find, test, and develop innovative and powerful new features. Be at the heart of tomorrow's scientific discoveries. And, of course, we want to make Dreem accessible to all.
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