86% of the American population does not meditate. Many of these people suffer from the very conditions that meditation can relieve – namely stress. WAVE is a lifestyle brand that remedies this disconnect through its music-driven, hardware-enabled meditation platform targeted toward millenials. At the heart of the company’s offering are a $199 connected memory foam cushion that is coupled with a subscription service that includes genreless, bass-bumping beats (produced by a Grammy winner); accompanied by guided meditaton instructions. With a multi-sensory approach, meditators can lay down on WAVE’s proprietary cushion and feel the music through vibrations.
AlleyWatch spoke to cofounders Brad Warsh and Mason Levey about creating a new hardware-enabled approach to meditation, the company’s future plans, and recent round of funding which brings the company’s total funding to $5.65M.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
WAVE just closed a seed round of $4.15M. Our investors include Lerer Hippeau, Collaborative Fund, Ludlow Ventures, and Crosslink Capital.
Tell us about the product or service that WAVE offers.
WAVE is an innovative at-home meditation product and content subscription that offers a totally new approach to the practice. WAVE is a music-driven experience that infuses breath, body, and beats in a two-part system:
The WAVE Bolster ($199) – A patent-pending, memory foam meditation cushion infused with technology that allows users to *feel* the music through vibrations. Designed for comfort, the bolster can be placed beneath your back while laying down or sitting up (sitting cross-legged with perfect posture isn’t for everyone). The Bolster includes a pair of over-ear headphones and it is Bluetooth enabled to sync with the WAVE iPhone app.
The WAVE App ($9.99/month or $99/year) – A subscription-based experience designed to feel like a music app, featuring 80+ 10-15-minute tracks of 100% original music meditation content. Created by a Grammy-nominated composer, WAVE tracks feature genreless, bass-bumping beats and guided instruction that pair with the vibrations in the bolster to offer a breathing and mindfulness exercise you can feel.
Altogether, the multi-sensory WAVE experience is unlike anything else in the market.
What inspired you to start WAVE?
We saw the impact that Y7 Studio had on challenging the conventions of traditional yoga, and we loved watching people who never thought they would do it become totally obsessed with the practice. After a few classes, people would begin to notice the positive effects that yoga has on their body and mind. About a year ago we were both looking for a meditation ritual and really couldn’t find anything that spoke to us personally. We tried all the existing apps and experiences in the market and felt like everything sat in the same bucket. We created WAVE to introduce something that was better-suited towards the millennial consumer and totally new to the market. We want to break down the barriers for people who (like us) think meditation can be too sterile, too hard, or “just not for me,” but still seek the benefits of mindfulness.
How is WAVE different?
WAVE doesn’t look, sound or act like traditional meditation. By making the practice more approachable, enjoyable, and culturally relevant, we’re creating a lifestyle brand that is meaningfully different than anything else on the market. We surveyed 750 consumers and asked what activities they turn to for inspiration and empowerment. Listening to music was the #1 activity indicated by our respondents. We believe that listening to music is a form of meditation, but no one has ever championed the practice as such. This further validates our framework for music-driven meditation content.
WAVE is all about proactivity and positivity. Most meditation apps in the market today lead with the negative (What is your ailment? Are you stressed? Are you sleep-deprived? Are you depressed?) While we know WAVE will help with all of these concerns, we want to lead with the positive and spark a movement around proactively investing in your mind – looking to meditation for empowerment and inspiration to build that daily ritual that has both short-term and long-term benefits. After you complete a track, users will be able to share graphics featuring words or “lyrics” from what they just heard via social media or text which will add a layer of community to the practice.
What market does WAVE target and how big is it?
WAVE was created for the 86% of Americans who do not currently meditate, especially millennial consumers.
What’s your business model?
Our business model includes an up-front purchase of hardware with a recurring revenue model of content subscription.
What was the funding process like?
Our partners have excellent experience with building consumer brands and really understood from the beginning how WAVE is creating a differentiated product in the market.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
WAVE is an experiential product that has to be felt in-person, so convincing investors to demo the product was our biggest challenge. WAVE can’t be truly be explained in the subject of an email, so it took some time to really capture the attention of investors. It also took due diligence to find investors who really believe in and understand our hardware/software business model, but well worth it in the end.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Seeing the opportunity to make meditation mainstream and understanding that more than 86% of Americans do not actively meditate. Seeing the previous success of Y7 Studio. Seeing the incredible talent and experience of our team. Believing that we were creating a meaningfully differentiated experience. All of these contributed to a successful pre-seed and seed round.
Seeing the opportunity to make meditation mainstream and understanding that more than 86% of Americans do not actively meditate. Seeing the previous success of Y7 Studio. Seeing the incredible talent and experience of our team. Believing that we were creating a meaningfully differentiated experience. All of these contributed to a successful pre-seed and seed round.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We plan to cultivate an initial group of early-adopters who create at-home rituals with WAVE.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Don’t wait for capital to prove your concept on a small scale. We were making prototypes and demo tracks before we had capital. We also did rigorous research to validate the market opportunity. You can prove your concept with very little capital, so don’t spend all your time raising money.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We see collaborations as the next opportunity for our company. We look forward to collaborating with musicians, artists, and DJs to create culturally-relevant music meditation content and keep our subscriber customers consistently engaged beyond launch.
What are your favorite restaurants in the city?
Peter Luger’s Steakhouse in Brooklyn and the restaurant at The NoMad hotel.
