It’s time for some hard-earned rest for the hard-working team at Somnox, a scale-up that has blessed the world with a gentle sleep robot that helps uneasy sleepers to calm their breathing and unwind.

On Tuesday they celebrated a successful round of fundraising to support their mission of helping 100 million people to sleep better in 2030, with the Dutch investment fund Health Investment Partners (HIP) announcing a capital injection to accelerate further growth.

Progress seems so smooth for Somnox. After gliding through the YES!Delft accelerator programme and then a Kickstarter campaign, they landed a partnership with Royal Auping that so far has produced a Red Dot Design Award, and a string of other prizes.

The Auping brand likes to say that a well-rested world is a more beautiful world, and the Somnox sleeping robot definitely is a beauty to behold.

“If all of us would get sufficient sleep? There would be less pressure on our health system, and our mental health would improve as well.”

Julian Jagtenberg, Co-founder Somnox

It breathes. Its minimalist body rises and falls, mirroring the breathing of its user as it gradually lures you to slow down to a relaxed and easy rhythm. No wonder that more and more people are inviting this robot into their beds, resulting in over a hundred positive user reviews on Trustpilot.

Positive effects of better sleeping on health, are one of the main reasons for HIP to invest in Somnox and it is also central to the spirit of this RoboValley darling.

Julian Jagtenberg, co-founder, says: “If all of us would get sufficient sleep? There would be less pressure on our health system, and our mental health would improve as well. Firms would be more productive, the world economy in better shape, traffic would be safer and our kids smarter. Sleep is the best health insurance out there.”

So what’s next? Somnox is planning to use the new funds to further improve its products and add a suite of innovations to its portfolio. The scale-up wants to achieve its target of reaching 100 million people not just through products, but also with content and services. “Our strategy for the next three years is to focus the Netherlands, the United States and the United Kingdom”, says Jagtenberg. Here come the sleep robots!