Casper
DTC mattressUSA
New to Unitard
π€ Acquired
PeakΒ $1.1 BillionToday
~-73%
from peak
- π¦Became a unicorn2019
- πPeak valuation$1.1 Billion β19
- πBecame a UnitardFeb 2020
- πΈLast valuation~$297M
Current status
IPO $744M; taken private by Durational Capital ~$300M (2021)
The rise & fall
6 moments Β· 2014β2023The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.
2014
2014
Founded as the bed-in-a-box
Five founders launch a mattress that ships compressed in a box β and mint the DTC playbook a hundred imitators copy.
Wikipedia
2019
2019
The peak: a $1.1B βsleep economyβ$1.1B
One last private round values the mattress brand at ~$1.1B as it preps for Wall Street.
CNBC
Feb 2020
Feb 2020
Slips out of the club at the IPO
Wall Street's verdict on the sleep economy: roughly $744M β sharply below the private mark, with losses still piling up.
CNN
Nov 2021
Nov 2021
Taken private by Durational for ~$300M$300M
Less than two years after listing, persistent losses end the public run at about a quarter of the unicorn peak.
CNBC
2021β23
From the inside Β· Glassdoor reviews, 2021β23
Employees watched the shine wear off: Glassdoor reviews from the take-private years described marketing and store expansion that outran revenue, constant restructuring and management churn, successive layoff rounds, and perks quietly pared back under the new owners.
π¬ entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β; dated facts carry their source.
How it happened
Casper was a U.S. direct-to-consumer mattress brand that reached a ~$1.1B valuation in 2019. Its 2020 IPO priced sharply below that, raising about $744M at a reduced valuation, and persistent losses led private equity firm Durational Capital Management to take it private in 2021 for roughly $300M β far below its unicorn peak.
Source: CNN/CNBC
Founders
Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-08-21. See our methodology.
