[Funding alert] Tech30 baby-tech startup Cradlewise raises $7M seed round led by Footwork, others

Silicon Valley-based baby-tech startup Cradlewise on Wednesday said it raised $7 million in a seed round led by venture capital firm Footwork, with participation from CRV and existing investors SOSV and Better Capital.

Other notable investors, including Katrina Lake (Founder of Stitch Fix), Jeremy Cai (CEO of Italic), and Dilip Goswani (CTO of Molekule), also participated in the round.

The startup will use the funds to accelerate its innovation and technology roadmap and grow its team in India, with hires in engineering, software, product, and customer success.

Co-founded by Radhika Patil and Bharath Patil in 2018, Cradlewise makes smart cribs for babies with a built-in baby monitor, which uses AI to learn the baby’s sleep patterns and adapts to changing needs.

The self-learning crib spots the first signs of a baby waking up and starts rocking the crib automatically, along with soothing music to safeguard sleep.

Speaking on the funding, Radhika Patil, Co-founder, Cradlewise, said,

“We are excited to be working with such well regarded VC firms and angel investors who have a deep understanding of connected hardware and the consumer market. We believe, Cradlewise is uniquely positioned in this competitive space as the only smart sleep product designed to impact an outcome and not just give notifications. We will continue to lead in this space by expanding the capabilities of the product in the areas of a baby’s health and safety.”

Upon joining Cradlewise’s board, Nikhil Basu Trivedi, Co-founder and General Partner, Footwork, said,

“Cradlewise is the only baby product in the market that uses deep tech and AI to learn the baby’s sleep patterns and growth trends. With software updates that build on this rich data — a characteristic of the very best connected hardware companies such as Nest, Peloton, Tesla, and Tonal — Cradlewise is pioneering the connected nursery.”

The startup maintains offices in both the San Francisco Bay Area, California, and Bengaluru, India. At present, one of YourStory’s Tech30 startups, Cradlewise, ships to anywhere in the US directly via its website. Next year, the startup also plans to make its products available through other ecommerce websites.

Mike Smith, Co-founder and General Partner, Footwork, and former President and COO, Stitch Fix, said,

“Babycare has always been a challenge. The pandemic only made it more challenging for new parents. Cradlewise is on a mission to help sleep-deprived parents so they can spend more quality wake time with babies.”

“Cradlewise isn’t just a smart crib; it is a mental health solution for parents,” said Kristin Baker Spohn, General Partner at CRV.

“As a working mom of three kids, I’m excited to see the next generation of solutions for our kids coming from parents themselves. Hearing Radhika’s founding inspiration to build a crib for her baby to solve the sleep challenges she experienced balancing work and family is a mission and product I instantly connected with,” said Katrina Lake, Founder of Stitch Fix. 

“I’ve been fortunate to have watched this “Tesla of Cribs” come together from an idea to a TIME 100 product from the very early days. Radhika and Bharath are stellar entrepreneurs who are solving an incredibly important problem, using modern tech and AI to help babies sleep better and longer, and help parents have a far more fulfilling time with their babies,” said Vaibhav Domkundwar of Better Capital.