The Swiss Army Knife of Health
Our whole world seems designed to keep us awake. Practically all American adults (at least 94%) use caffeine every day. Most of us also stare at screens long after the sun goes down, and brag about burning the midnight oil.
The consequences of this are that upwards of 70 million Americans suffer from serious sleep disorders, and it seems almost no one consistently gets good sleep.
First, let’s talk about the costs of poor sleep. Sleep disorders are strongly correlated with high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes, and we now know that even snoring can be a more significant risk factor for heart attack and stroke than smoking or high cholesterol. When we also consider that people with irregular sleep patterns are 34% more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, and that adults getting less than six hours of sleep are 30% more likely to develop dementia, the true costs of the sleep crisis start to come into focus.
So it is unsurprising that Americans already spend $80 billion a year on sleep aids, from traditional pharmaceuticals to melatonin gummies. While this number will likely double by 2032, the $23 billion we spend on sleep tech is expected to 5X by the same year, which will turn this problem into a $200 billion market.
But many of the traditional solutions, like sleeping pills, might actually make the problem even worse. In other words, this is a market that is ripe for disruption.
Companies like Wesper , which recently secured $9.6 million in Series A funding, exemplify the potential of new approaches. Using wireless patches for at-home testing, they can detect a wide range of sleep issues, and identify the best treatment options. Along another frontier of innovation, NextSense, Inc 's Tone earbuds utilize real-time EEG technology to generate personalized audio for deeper sleep. Unlike traditional sleep trackers that simply monitor movement and heart rate, these devices actively work to improve sleep quality through responsive technology.
According to UC-Berkeley sleep researcher Matthew Walker, PhD , "Sleep is the Swiss Army knife of health. When sleep is deficient, there is sickness and disease. And when sleep is abundant, there is vitality and health."
Sleep health is similar to mental or general nutritional health in that technology is only one – and probably not among the most important ones – of its myriad drivers. I feel I would be remiss to not point out that investing in strenuous exercise and spiritual and social health are so important to a good night’s sleep.
But for those of us on the frontlines of healthcare innovation, the opportunity to contribute to the improvement of sleep health with solutions like NextSense and Wesper is clear and compelling.
