SevenVentures, the financial investor of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group, is investing in the mattress startup Casper as part of a media-for-equity investment. Alongside strategic investor Target Global and renowned financial investors such as NEA and Lerer Hippeau, SevenVentures also participated in the C-round.
The American startup receives not money, but airtime for TV advertising Casper from SevenVentures, the venture arm of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group. Florian Pauthner, CEO of SevenVentures, sees great potential in future cooperation:
"Casper is an extremely promising company that dominates the entire value chain and all product worlds related to sleep. In this country, sales are still primarily brick-and-mortar. We want to use TV advertising to attract potential customers to Casper, establish a strong brand, and jointly develop the young market."
How startup scene The deal was reportedly already closed during the last investment round in June, which raised a total of $170 million. In addition to financial investors such as NEA and Lerer Hippeau, Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey is also on board as an investor in Casper.
Brick-and-mortar retail vs. online shopping
The mattress start-up, founded in 2014, has been active on the German market since 2016 and since then has not only had to compete against competitors such as Emma or Muun, but also contend with the peculiarities of the German mattress market. For example, most mattresses in this country are still sold in brick-and-mortar stores. With the help of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group, Casper now wants to introduce Germans to online mattress shopping through TV advertising.
