Cradlewise, a US-based technology startup that makes smart cribs for babies, raised $7 million on Tuesday in a seed round led by venture capital firm Footwork, CRV and existing investors. It had raised $1 million last year.
Smart cribs
Cradlewise makes smart cribs with a built-in baby monitor that uses artificial intelligence to learn the baby’s sleep patterns and adapts to changing needs. It’s a crib, bassinet, and monitor — all integrated into one.
“Our smart crib spots the early signs of wakeup and responds just in time. It starts bouncing with soothing music so that the wakeup does not escalate to the cry phase,” Radhika Patil, Co-Founder of Cradlewise, told BusinessLine in an email response from the US after the firm raised the seed fund.
“It’s a lot harder to calm babies once they reach the cry phase. But if you can calm a baby when it’s still in the early stages of wake-up — it’s a lot easier to get the baby back to sleep,” she said.
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“This is the secret sauce to better sleep without too much effort. We also enabled the crib to track sleep patterns and forecast your baby’s sleep and wake-up times,” she added.
The firm owns two technology patents for the product in the US and India. The startup, with a team of 25 people, developed the technology in India.
“We are expanding our team in India and are hiring for multiple roles in technology, engineering and design,” Patil said.
