Casper and Leesa Continue Their Staggering Growth by Raising Funds and Launching New Products

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Leesa and Casper are the perfect poster children for the new online mattress industry.

They are everything the traditional mattress industry is not: convenient, affordable and hassle-free.

Both companies sell high quality foam mattresses at an affordable price (less than $1,000). They both offer generous in-home trial periods and warranties and are delivered directly to customers in a compact box.

That said, there are many other online mattress brands bringing the ‘online heat' to traditional mattress giants Serta Simmons and Tempur Sealy International. Nest Bedding, Saatva and Purple are some of the best-known online upstarts.

But so far, Casper and Leesa have risen to become the two dominant disruptors in the budget memory foam mattress market.

They are not only waging a war against the traditional model of buying mattresses – they are also battling each other fiercely on TV, in social media, on popular media sites and in online marketplaces like Amazon.com.

Recently, both companies raised funds, announced new products and deals with major retailers to carry their mattresses in-store, and started to expand internationally.

It's no longer a question of whether the bed-in-the-box model works for foam mattresses. It does.

The question now is: which one of these startups will take the lion's share?

Casper vs. Leesa: Mattress Comparison

Founded in 2013, Casper sold more than $200 million worth of bedding in 2016 and is valued at nearly a billion dollars. Word is they are filing for an IPO, soon.

Founded just a year later than Casper, Leesa is expected to rake-in more than $150 million in revenue, in 2017. They recently raised another $23 million from investors to fund their aggressive expansion.

Both the Leesa and Casper mattresses are all-foam mattresses.

The Leesa mattress has three foam layers: 2 inches of Avena foam (a special latex-like type of foam), 2 inches of memory foam and 6 inches of support foam. The cover is made from breathable quilted polyester and lycra fabric.

The Casper mattress has four layers: 1.5 inches of poly foam, 1.5 inches of memory foam, another 1.5-inch layer of poly foam and 5 inches foundational foam. The cover is 100% polyester, making it soft and breathable.

To be clear, neither of these are luxury mattresses. They are not as plush as the Saatva mattress, with its Euro Pillow top and pocketed coils – and of course a higher price tag.

But they are both very comfortable, and most customers rate them highly. They also don’t sleep hot, they provide good support and their foam layers are great at pressure relief.

In our opinion, the Leesa mattress has a noticeably better overall sleeping experience. Their top Avena foam layer seems to be better in contouring and support than the top poly foam layer used in the Casper mattress.

We claim no proof of motive, but it appears that after Leeesa was launched, Casper added an extra layer (it originally had three layers) to improve their quality.

To get a better picture of how these two mattresses compare in terms of support and comfort, check out my in-depth Casper vs. Leesa mattress comparison.

Market Share

Being private companies, it's impossible to determine exactly how much market share Leesa and Casper hold. Casper is definitely the bigger brand, with experts speculating that it may be worth $1 billion dollars or more.

In terms of revenue, Casper earned more than twice Leesa’s revenue in 2016 ($200 million vs. $80 million).

The competition between the two is just heating up, though.

Expect big moves and marketing investments from the two brands as they attempt to win over more customers. Leesa recently released a new hybrid mattress, Sapira, which we have also reviewed. It's a great product.

Casper seems to be sticking with its single-product strategy and is banking on its reputation is an affordable, innovative high quality mattress brand.

Leesa, on the other hand seems to be banking on product diversity and their image as an investor into social good. For example, Leesa is registered as a B Corporation, meaning they have to meet rigorous social and environmental standards, not just aiming for profits. Leesa gives away one mattress to those in need for every 10 mattresses sold.

Both brands are growing rapidly, presenting an enormous threat to traditional mattress makers.

But the mattress industry is HUGE, so it will be a while before they have the lion’s share of this $15 billion market.

Beyond the Internet

While their official websites are still the main selling portals for Casper and Leesa, they have both recently taken steps to boost their physical footprint in brick and mortar stores.

Casper made the first bold move when it entered into acquisition negotiations with Target. The plan was for Target to buy the company for $1 billion and incorporate their mattresses in their stores, both online and offline.

When the talks fell through, Target instead invested $75 million in the company. Now, Target stores will soon stock Casper mattresses.

Leesa, on the other hand, just replaced Casper at West Elm, the upscale furniture and home décor retailer. Leesa mattresses will soon be available for testing in West Elm stores.

Countries of Operation

Casper has been the most aggressive when it comes to international expansion. In addition to the United States, they also have operations in the UK, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Canada.

Leesa is not far behind. They recently expanded to the UK, Canada and Germany. With their latest round of funding, it won't be long before they even the score internationally.

Customer Feedback

Both companies enjoy enormously positive feedback from thousands of customers.

Casper has a 4.4/5 rating from over eight thousand reviews on their website.

Leesa has a similar rating from over twelve thousand reviews.

Both mattresses have similarly high 4+ ratings on Amazon.

In our opinion, they are both great mattresses – I scored both greater than 4 stars. But Leesa seems to sleep better, for me.

Who Wins?

Ultimately, both of these fast-growing brands are likely to take big chunks of the rapidly-growing bed-in-a-box market.

They have both gone all-out in terms of raising funds, launching new products, expanding internationally and marketing aggressively to win customers.

I expect both companies will launch even more products in the coming years, while still maintaining their affordable and convenient appeal.

What Do You Think?

Do you own a Casper or a Leesa? Do you like it?

If you are planning to buy a foam mattress soon, which of these two mattresses appeals to you most?

Add your comments, below!

More Leesa Mattress Comparisons:

More Casper Mattress Comparisons:

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