Unobtrusive online monitoring of sleep at homeLasse Leppäkorpi founded Beddit in 2006 and serves as the company’s CEO.
The company grew out of his interest in medical technology and experience as an elite athlete.
As a postgraduate at the Helsinki University of Technology studying ballistocardiography, which tracks motions of the human body with each heartbeat, he recognized the value and appeal of tracking sleep without worn sensors. With colleagues and support from world-leading sleep scientists, he developed the means to measure key sleep indicators –including heart rate, breathing patterns and body movements – through a single sensor placed on the bed, not worn by the subject.In 2007, he won the national McKinsey VentureCup and attracted seed funding to start the company, then known as Finsor. After initial success selling products to sleep clinics and hospitals, Leppäkorpi turned to address the much larger opportunity presented by home sleep tracking.In 2012, the company launched its first home use product and in 2013 won the Technovation award at New York’s Consumer Electronics Week with a new version that processed the sleep data using an app running on personal mobile devices.In 2014, Beddit raised a half million dollars on Indiegogo, the crowd funding site, representing preorders to more than 100 countries. The company has since grown to more than 20 people with offices in Helsinki and Palo Alto, California, where Leppäkorpi now resides.Leppäkorpi was formerly a member of the Finnish national triathlon team with five national championship medals.