By George Bailey
July 2, 2022- zPods, a Saint Louis startup, is launching a new line of enclosed beds with parent- or child-controlled “sleepscape” options that users can tailor to their own needs. The bed includes USB ports and a new app to serve the needs of kids with sleep issues.
zPods got its start when it performed its first case study with a young woman named Natalie who was sleeping only four hours a night in her closet. Together with Natalie’s mother, the zPods team believed that Natalie might be less anxious and sleep better in an enclosed bed where she could have a sense of control. However, they were only speculating and were not sure what the result would be. Natalie’s mother and the zPods team were all stunned when Natalie’s sleep jumped to ten hours a night—an average that Natalie has maintained for over the past two and a half years.
zPods has since placed its generation one beds with over 70 children who are autistic, schizophrenic, ADHD, bipolar, and more. Most have a sleep disorder or sensory processing disorder. zPods helped these children get more sleep. Whether these children were getting 3–4 hours a night or 6–7 hours, when they could “tune out” the stressors in their environment they usually ended up with 9–10 hours of sleep a night.
“As they got the rest they needed, we received reports from parents and even teachers of improvements in attention, behavior, and happiness,” said George Bailey, zPods’ president and father of five, two of whom are autistic. “Their parents were sleeping better, too.”
Having worked with some of the more challenging cases of childhood insomnia, zPods wants to make its unique sleep solution more broadly available. Bailey says, “Any kid who looks at this bed is going to think it’s the coolest thing in the world. There are a lot of high-energy kids out there that we’d love to serve.”
But there were problems with the first design, which was made in China. The thin plastic side walls cracked routinely during shipping. The pod was unwieldy and took 3–4 hours to set up. The growing supply chain issues doubled the cost of shipping a container over from China. Fortunately, zPods found a USA manufacturing partner in LINDAR Corporation. Together, they took the concept of an enclosed bed and not only made it lighter and easier to set up (about half an hour), but more durable to prevent cracking and other damage. On-shoring production reduced landed costs dramatically as well as lag time in shipping to the consumer.
Partnering with LINDAR Corporation, zPods brings a new design for a modular, durable, customizable product now made in the USA. The new bed now features better air circulation, full-spectrum LED lighting, Bluetooth speakers, and a touch control panel that also pairs with a smart device that will eventually allow parents to override and make sure the lights go out when they’re supposed to. The zPods app will also allow the user to set alarms to raise the lights or ease in an audio track to gently rouse a sleeper.
In terms of size, each bed is six feet, five inches from end to end on the inside and can bear up to 300 pounds. Easily removable doors can make routine cleaning and maintenance much easier and will allow the user to switch out new door themes and colors to match the room’s decor in the near future. To top all these features off, the new bed is easy to construct into a single pod or a stackable double as needed.
zPods has already launched a successful pre-sales campaign for generation two and will be shipping beds to their new owners in July. Founded in Saint Louis, MO in 2019, zPods is a recent recipient of an Arch Grants award for promising startups. For more information, visit www.zpodsforsleep.com, call George Bailey at (314) 498-4445 or email at george@zpods.io.
Visit with zPods a health tech company, dedicated to improving sleep performance for kids and adults with sleep and sensory issues at FIME 2022, The Florida International Medical Expo.
The event will take place at the Miami Beach Convention center July 27-29, 2022. FIME is the largest Medical Exposition in the Western Hemisphere Over 1100 booths with exhibitors offering thousands of products, services, and technologies related to healthcare. Over 120 countries participating, 5 Charities, Keynotes, and Healthcare Transformation Talks. All conferences and events are free to attend, including a Start-up competition and Product showcases. Visitors Register now to attend FIME 2022 FREE https://fimeshow.info/3vx6Rat For more information Contact: carol.prokap@informa.com
