Online mattress retailer Eve Sleep has confirmed its float on AIM – the London Stock Exchange’s high-growth market – by way of a conditional placing. 

The sleep brand, valued at £140m, is hoping to raise £35m in its stock market debut, which marks the first retail IPO of 2017. 

Despite generating sales of £12m in 2016 – up from £2.6m the previous year – Eve widened its EBITDA losses to £11.3m. 

The start-up’s flotation is being managed by stockbroker Peel Hunt.

The sleep brand, which aims to disrupt the European sleep market – worth an estimated £25.6bn – has expanded to 12 countries since launching in 2015.

Dynamic category

The fast-growing bed-in-a-box retailer manufactures and sells mattresses with next-day delivery and a 100-day return policy.

This has been met by other rivals in the newly dynamic category, such as Casper, Simba and Dreams-owned Hyde & Sleep.

Eve chief executive and founder Jas Bagniewski told Retail Week it was looking to expand its product range and become more of a ‘sleep brand’.

He said that, although around 10% of mattress sales currently occur on the internet, there is scope for further penetration.

“A lot of customers see it as an efficient way of buying a mattress. It’s a product that’s typically unpleasant to buy offline. Customers awkwardly lie down to test them out for a few seconds, and it’s difficult to understand the choice because they look the same,” he said.

eve sleep ceo jas bagniewski

Eve Sleep chief executive and founder Jas Bagniewsk

Eve currently sells vacuum-sealed beds across the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France, and the US.

The firm has raised over £17m to date from a range of investors including City fund manager Neil Woodford, Channel 4, venture capital fund Octopus, and former Capita boss Paul Pindar.

With a focus on digital marketing, Eve has grown without the need for a high-street presence. However, it does operate pop-up concessions at department stores including Debenhams, Fenwick and Next.

Bagniewski was previously the UK head of German online fashion retailer Zalando.