Beddit gathers momentum for its non-wearable sleep monitor

Disclosure: The organizers of Slush 2014 paid my way to Helsinki. Our coverage remains objective. 

HELSINKI — Beddit, the maker of a strap that monitors your heart rate while you lie in bed, has sold more than 100,000 units and has debuted at the Bed Bath & Beyond U.S. national retail chain.

Beddit makes a “non-wearable” device, which the company says offers fewer hassles than wearable devices that have to worn and charged.

“We offer an ambient way to  track health,” said Lasse Leppakorpi, chief executive of Beddit, in a press briefing. “We want to get in bed with you. Sleep is the most important factor in health.”

Beddit consists of a strap that can sense your heart rate and breathing rate. That helps Beddit calculate how much you sleep, down to the minute. It calculates the quality of your sleep. The company uses ballistocardiography and an extremely sensitive dynamic sensor that measures “beat to beat.”

And it sends the data it collects to your smartphone, so that you don’t need to use other wearables. Of course, this won’t track your fitness, like your heart rate when you are exercising.

But the app does offer you tips on sleep quality. Then it creates a smart alarm that will wake you up after you get enough sleep.

The company raised $500,000 on Indiegogo, and it shipped its first products in January. It has generated $6.5 million in revenue to date, and it began selling in 1,300 stores in October.

The company has raised $3 million to date, and it has 20 employees.