Snail Sleep Files IPO Prospectus Amid Expansion into Data Services with 380,000 Daily Sleep Reports

Since its launch over a year ago, Snail Sleep has amassed more than 4 million downloads, with 380,000 daily active users (DAU) and 700,000 to 1 million monthly active users (MAU). The app boasts a 70% next-day retention rate and ranks between 10th and 15th in the Health & Fitness category on the Apple App Store. Its smart sleep pillow, launched on JD.com’s crowdfunding platform, reached its RMB 500,000 target on the first day, cementing its position as a leader in the sleep health sector. VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) interviewed founder Gao Song to learn how he designs and operates his products.

We are all well aware of what we do during the day, yet we remain unaware of what we say or do while asleep at night.2014In 2016, Gao Song was at AppleAPPOn the app store's download leaderboard, I saw an app named “Sleep Talk Recorder” sleep-talking recording app. After downloading and trying it out, he found it interesting, but the software did not improve his sleep quality.

Consequently, he decided to establish a company dedicated to monitoring and improving sleep. Gao Song, who did not have a medical background, began to intensively study sleep-related knowledge. Through reviewing literature, he discovered that approximately one-third of the global population suffers from sleep disorders, while in China, the prevalence of various sleep disorders reaches as high as 38.2%, exceeding the global average of 27%. Sleep disorders can lead to a range of physical and psychological issues, including irritability, reduced efficiency, and memory impairment. This substantial user base further solidified his determination to launch the venture.

In early 2015, Gao Song founded Snail Sleep. Snail Sleep is a subsidiary of CyberDragon Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., which was registered in January 2011. Gao Song graduated with a degree in Automation from Northeastern University and later earned an MBA from the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. He previously served as General Manager of Elitecore’s China region, Sales Director at O2Micro, and Senior Consultant at Neusoft Corporation.

In addition, Gao Song has brought on other co-founders. CTO Zhu Dongxiang graduated with a degree in Automation from Northwestern Polytechnical University and also holds an MBA from Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. He previously served as Senior Product Director at Sony China, Vice President at Meibotong, and Designer of the Flight Return Control System for Shenzhou-1. CCO Zhang Zheng graduated with a major in Environmental Art from LuXun Academy of Fine Arts and later studied Industrial Design at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon in France. He formerly held positions as Art Director at Gameloft, Art Director at Bluegang Interactive, and Senior Designer at NetDragon.

When asked why Snail Sleep has developed so successfully, Gao Song stated that it is primarily due to its design and operations. In terms of app design, Snail Sleep offers the following advantages:

Sleep Talk Recorder: Gao Song borrowed the concept of a “Sleep Talk Recorder” to enhance the app’s entertainment value. The software automatically detects ambient decibel levels and records sleep talking and snoring, creating endless fun when shared with family and friends. Snail Sleep App experienced explosive growth after an internet celebrity shared their sleep talk recordings on Weibo, explicitly mentioning the use of Snail Sleep. Although the post was deleted two hours later, Snail Sleep reached 69,000 downloads that day and climbed to the top spot in the free Health & Fitness category on the Apple App Store, as previously mentioned. Since then, it has maintained a stable daily download volume of 20,000.

Smart Alarm Clock: Wake Up During Light Sleep Phase: From a health perspective, waking up from light sleep is optimal. The Snail Sleep app begins monitoring ten minutes before the scheduled alarm time. When it detects the user transitioning from deep to light sleep, it automatically triggers the alarm. If the user remains in deep sleep, the app first plays wake-up music to facilitate the transition to light sleep, then sounds the alarm to awaken the user.

Comprehensive Sleep Report: Better Understand Your Sleep: Users open “Snail Sleep” and place the device beside their pillow. The software automatically detects ambient sound levels in decibels, recording sleep talking and snoring. Meanwhile, sensors in the smartphone monitor the user’s respiratory rhythms and body movement amplitude to assess light and deep sleep stages, generating a report.

Sleep Report

Original Hypnotic Music, Reduces Sleep Onset Time by 30%: Many people listen to music at night to help them fall asleep. Medical research has categorized sleep-inducing music into three types: soothing music, natural sounds (such as flowing water, ocean waves, and wind), and white noise (such as engine hums and television static). Snail Sleep’s lullabies subtly blend these audio elements using mixed 3D sound effects to create pleasant and effective hypnotic music.

Furthermore, extensive sleep experiments conducted by the General Hospital of the Air Force, Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, and the Affiliated Hospital in Xianyang, Shaanxi, have verified that users of Snail Sleep experience a 30% reduction in natural sleep onset latency. The efficacy has been endorsed by Wei Yulin, a senior scholar in sleep music and sleep research at China-Japan Friendship Hospital.

The Snail Sleep app currently offers six free and four paid hypnosis tracks. The paid tracks are approximately 20 minutes in length and priced at RMB 10 per track. The platform maintains a release schedule of two new paid hypnosis tracks per month. Gao Song revealed that Snail Sleep’s sleep-aid music is produced by an outsourced team, with medical doctors serving as consultants to evaluate efficacy.

Snail Sleep Smart Pillow

In addition to the app, Snail Sleep has also launched the Snail Sleep Smart Pillow. This pillow features numerous highlights:

InMaterials, it is the first domestically produced pillow to adopt “Japan Liangmian Pillow“Standard pillows, filled with nanotubes, including antibacterial copper particles, moisture-absorbing carbon particles, and high-elasticity particles.”

Technically, utilizing cutting-edge stereo bone conduction technology, it transmits music directly through vibrations to the skull bones, then to the auditory nerve and auditory center. This ensures no disturbance to others, eliminates the hassle of wearing devices, and is radiation-free. These bone conduction headphones have passed rigorous testing at Sony’s Professional Audio Laboratory, delivering sound quality superior to most bone conduction headphones on the market.

In terms of design, fully taking into account individualized needs for pillow shape, height, and firmness, the sleep pillow is divided into five zones, each filled with different polymer materials that allow users to freely add or remove filling to meet all their sleeping requirements.

It is called a smart pillow because Snail Sleep connects the smart pillow to its app via a controller, allowing users to control the pillow through their smartphones. Meanwhile, the pillow assesses the user’s sleep status and automatically stops music playback.

Snail Sleep’s operations primarily leverage new media for dissemination. For instance, its push-notification marketing campaign—“Young people, don’t stay up late scrolling on your phone; it’s bad for your phone”—garnered tens of millions of impressions. On JD.com’s crowdfunding platform, it achieved 100% of its funding goal on the first day, generating over RMB 500,000 in sales. Its initial exposure on Weibo resulted in 69,000 downloads on the same day, and it consistently emerged as a winner in entrepreneurship competitions. In summary, Gao Song stated that by leveraging new media, Snail Sleep acquired each user at a cost of less than RMB 1.

According to Gao Song, Snail Sleep’s various metrics lead the industry. Below are some data compiled by reporters.

In addition, Snail Sleep’s user base consists largely of high-net-worth individuals, with 79% being iOS users and a majority residing in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Currently, Snail Sleep's revenue streams includeSplash Ads, Hardware Products, Paid Music, in addition to providing music services on its own platform, Snail Sleep has partnered with Ximalaya FM to offer paid downloads of hypnotic tracks for the latter’s members.

In the future, Snail Sleep will generate revenue as a data service provider. Gao Song stated that Snail Sleep currently processes 380,000 sleep reports per day. Current research indicates that,19% of myocardial infarctions are associated with sleep apnea. Research institutions, including the National Health and Family Planning Commission, have reached cooperation intentions with Snail Sleep, which will provide data to assist in their research on sleep apnea.Moreover, these sleep reports can also assist users in conducting preliminary screening for related diseases.

In addition to studying nighttime sleep, Snail Sleep has begun researching how to monitor and improve people’s napping habits. This feature is expected to be added in the next product update.

Snail Sleep has completed two rounds of financing totaling RMB 7 million and has launched a new round of fundraising.