NYC-based sleep startup Proper announced Monday it has officially launched, bolstered by a $9.5 million funding round led by Snoop Dogg’s venture capital firm Casa Verde, with participation from Redesign Health.
By offering a combination of “specially formulated” supplements and sleep coaching provided by board-certified health and wellness coaches, Proper is attempting to provide a long-term solution to an issue that reportedly affects about a third of this country’s adults.
This combination of virtual health consultations and medication delivery have become increasingly popular, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Calibrate, which uses a similar model as Proper to help its users lose weight, launched last month, and fellow online health provider Ro just announced it raised $200 million. Proper CEO and founder Nancy Ramamurthi does not anticipate this trend going away any time soon.
“Telehealth has been a growing trend, but with COVID, public acceptance and adoption have dramatically increased. In sleep, telemedicine is essential because it’s even harder for people to access sleep expertise,” Ramamurthi told Built In via email. “Health coaching is another wave of the future. There is a growing body of literature and recognition that many healthcare epidemics (diabetes, etc.) are a result of behavior — drinking, smoking, etc. — but making behavioral change is hard, and people need help. That’s where the health coach, and in our case, a sleep coach, comes in. With Proper, we’re combining our expertise in sleep with the best of health coaching and have created a new and individualized solution that addresses your unique needs.”
Each of Proper’s five supplements are made with ingredients like valerian root extract and rafuma leaf extract, as well as various vitamins, to address different issues related to sleep. Users can either pay $39.99 per bottle or subscribe at a 10 percent discount. They also get a free 30-minute consultation with a sleep coach.
None of Proper’s supplements have CBD or cannabis, despite what an investment from Snoop Dogg’s VC firm might suggest. However, Ramamurthi acknowledges its demonstrated abilities to reduce stress and anxiety, making it “one of the safer and more effective ingredients to explore” down the line.
Until then, Proper will use this $9.5 million to boost its sales and marketing efforts, expand its products and services and grow its team. Although the company is technically based out of NYC, Ramamurthi says it is open to hiring remote employees.
