Have you ever felt like you were too hot or too cold while trying to sleep? Don’t worry, it happens to a lot of people! It’s estimated that about 57% of U.S. adults say they occasionally get too hot while sleeping, compared with 37% who report being too cold.
And while it may not sound like a big deal, sleep temperature is actually integral to a good night’s sleep. In the same report, sleeping when it was too hot was among the highest factors of why people had trouble sleeping—behind using the bathroom or physical discomfort.
Enter Duke University student-founded Dreamipsy, which aims to offer fabrics that combine comfortable textiles with therapeutic benefits for a better sleep. Dreamipsy was part of the 2024 Duke Startup Showcase in April, where 36 student-led companies presented and pitched their ideas to local community members.
Founder Alex Yuan is no stranger to the process of creating comfortable textiles. Even before he started Dreamipsy at Duke, his family has been in the home textile R&D (research and development) industry for more than 30 years in China. Needless to say, Yuan’s quite used to a comfortable set of sheets. But when he first moved to the U.S, he found his selection sparse.
“I didn’t think there’d be any difference between different products within the home textile industry, so I just told my parents I’d buy new sheets here,” Yuan said. “But the truth is that when I did buy sheets here, the textures were too coarse and not breathable. It wasn’t reasonable compared to what I used back home. So instead, I slept on a mattress for a whole semester without any sheets.”
Intrigued by the possibilities of even more comfortable textiles, Yuan has been studying research analytics here in the U.S. and working with his family company to tap into the unfamiliar (to many in the U.S.) market of functional fabrics. He has teamed up with fellow Duke MBA student Prince Okonkwo, Dreamipsy’s marketing manager/director.
Yuan’s family’s company owns a patent in China for fabrics integrated with natural, herbal elements such as mugwort and jade. With Dreamipsy, Yuan plans to bring this untapped market of fabrics to the U.S., and education about its benefits. Dreamipsy already has multiple locations, having registered in Wyoming, established a warehouse in New Jersey, and set up an official HQ in Durham.
“[This technology] has already gone viral in the Chinese market, but because this is a new technology, we still need time to educate our customers,” Yuan said. “I want to spread the knowledge and benefits of Eastern herbal supplements or treatments, especially since noticing a trend of more Western populations believing in the natural wellness treatments.”
Dreamipsy sheets are spun with typical sheet materials and sourced natural fibers, currently mugwort and jade. According to their website, mugwort is made into the company’s Warmroot Lyocell Blend, which combines the softness and snugness of lyocell with the skin-friendly breathability of cotton. Jade masterbatches are made with micro-nano technology and spun into its Jadecool Lyocell Blend, whose porous structure enhances quick moisture absorption and breathability, keeping the sheet refreshingly cool and non-sticky.
According to Yuan’s curated research, other comparative products in this market said to provide warming or cooling effects are made of pure cotton, bamboo or other synthetic materials. But customers still complained about how certain products made them too hot or cold.
Because of the herbal components of its sheets, Dreamipsy already claims to have sheets three times cooler than most cooling sheets in the market. Yuan said that by contrast to most cooling materials using cotton or other majorly synthetic materials, Dreamipsy’s natural elements generate more natural responses to the human body—one reason jade and mugwort have been used in cultures for thousands of years.
What makes Dreamipsy stand out even more against its competitors is the price, which starts about $50 less than the average prices of cooling and warming sheets. Yuan said that the average price for a warming set of two pillowcases, one flat and fitted sheet can be around $184. Dreamipsy’s prices for a warming sheet set (which also includes its own duvet cover) averages around $139 on its most premium side.
Dreamipsy sheets are already available to order on the startup’s website but Yuan said that in order to engage customer discovery and the demand for these sheets, Dreamipsy plans to sell its products on Wayfair as well.
Like what you hear? The Dreamipsy team wants to hear from you! They are mostly asking readers to try out their products and provide feedback, whether on its proposed cooling/warming abilities or on the colors they currently provide. Yuan also wants people to understand why using natural benefits is important to Dreamipsy’s mission.
“When people buy material products such as home textiles, most prefer to go in-store to actually touch these products,” Yuan explained. “What can we do to help them bridge this gap or how to help people to have the actual sense of what our product can do? The best way is to try our products out and be honest about what we can improve.”
