Eight Sleep raises $86M as its smart mattress and ‘sleep fitness’ technology approaches $500M valuation

The venture world is#nbsp;— quite literally#nbsp;— waking up#nbsp;to#nbsp;the potential of#nbsp;applying artificial intelligence to#nbsp;a#nbsp;wider variety of#nbsp;real-world, consumer-driven problems, and today comes the latest development on#nbsp;that front: Eight Sleep, which makes "smart" mattresses and mattress covers (for regular mattresses) that use machine learning and other artificial intelligence-based algorithms to#nbsp;improve your sleep both by#nbsp;changing temperature and monitoring other physical parameters to#nbsp;provide an#nbsp;overall picture of#nbsp;your health, has raised $#nbsp;86 million in#nbsp;a#nbsp;Series C#nbsp;round of#nbsp;funding.

Valor Equity Partners#nbsp;— the firm that has backed the likes of#nbsp;Tesla, SpaceX, GoPuff and many other big tech firms#nbsp;— is#nbsp;leading this latest investment, with SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund and General Catalyst also participating, along with a#nbsp;lot of#nbsp;high-profile individuals who are also users of#nbsp;the product: athletes Alex Rodriguez, Kris Bryant and J.D. Martinez; celebs Kevin Hart; and tech figures Sophia Amoruso, Naval Ravikant and Kyle Vogt.

This Series C#nbsp;brings the total raised by#nbsp;Eight Sleep to $#nbsp;150 million, and the startup has confirmed to#nbsp;me#nbsp;that its valuation is#nbsp;now close to $#nbsp;500 million.

Published by Techcrunch#nbsp;— on#nbsp;August 30, 2021