After 25 years in the mattress trade, Stefan Magnus determined to confront a difficulty he seen in the market.

With many manufacturers emphasising on visible aesthetics quite than high quality, beds have been turning into bigger and better, with a heftier price ticket to match. Many of those beds would additionally function beautiful quilting and splendid materials.

However do these actually improve the sleeper’s consolation? To Stefan, the reply was no. He noticed firsthand how his buddies bought caught with poorly made beds for many years.

Believing that he had the required know-how to handle this problem, Heveya was born in 2012.

What’s the matter with mattresses?

Whereas conventional mattresses sometimes include springs and polyurethane foam, Heveya has intentionally excluded these supplies. As an alternative, their beds are made with 100% natural latex.

Referencing a ebook known as Poisonous Electrical energy by Steven Magee, Stefan believes that the metallic springs in mattress generate electromagnetic fields, which might have opposed results.

As for the froth, he identified that these are derived from petroleum, which bear a chemical response throughout manufacturing. He argued that these find yourself releasing gases that proceed to be emitted for a sure interval.

On high of that, conventional spring mattresses often can’t be opened and cleaned, leaning to the buildup of mud and mites over time.

To counter this, Heveya mattresses function detachable covers, and should not have any empty areas inside the mattress, stopping the event of life kinds similar to mud mites.

Natural latex additionally supplies advantages like air flow, elasticity, and sturdiness.

But it surely’s not like Heveya found this. Earlier than the inception of Heveya, natural latex was already recognised in the mattress world for its optimum properties. But, firms could hesitate to commercialise it resulting from its value. He additionally believes that firms have a tough time differentiating their merchandise with out simply including the additional frills.

At Heveya, a more cost effective product is created by adopting a direct-to-consumer mannequin. By shopping for elements like latex blocks and covers, Heveya can assemble mattresses immediately at clients’ residence, eliminating the necessity for a whole mattress manufacturing facility.

The model additionally provides worth with options like a 100-day free trial. Elements of their modular mattress could be adjusted till perfection or refunded.

As we speak, Heveya has expanded to cowl not solely mattresses, however a spread of bedsheets, duvets, throws, towels, and different ornamental materials.

Contributing again to the earth & extra

Extra than simply the improved product, although, one thing which may make Heveya a most well-liked selection, particularly amongst educated customers, is its dedication in direction of sustainability and social duty.

To perform this, suppliers and companions are meticulously chosen, making certain the entire chain is sustainable.

A notable sustainability initiative by the corporate is their collaboration with an natural licensed plantation in Sri Lanka for natural latex manufacturing.  

“This natural plantation helps shield the soil and rivers from poisonous pesticides,” Thijs Veyfeyken, the managing director of the model, defined. “Going a step additional, now we have additionally engaged in agroforestry plantations in collaboration with our provider.”

Agroforestry includes planting crops like peanuts, pineapples, papayas, and bananas in between the rubber bushes. This finally ends up making navigation on the plantation tougher, which is why farmers have been very proof against the concept at first.

Nevertheless, the consequence has been outstanding. Farmers have benefited by promoting extra crops like bananas and papayas. They’ve even launched beehives and fishponds, Thijs mentioned.

“Moreover, the enriched soil has elevated rubber tree yields by 20%,” the managing director added. “The Hevea Brasiliensis, or rubber tree (therefore our identify ‘Heveya’), already contributes to environmental preservation by absorbing over a ton of CO2 in its lifetime.”

He elaborated, “By means of ecosystem restoration, we transfer nearer to replicating the consequences of an actual rainforest. Our subsequent step includes sourcing latex from bushes rising naturally in rainforests in Borneo, leaving nature utterly intact.”

On the subject of leaving nature intact, Heveya is working with Replant.world to plant bushes in the rainforests of Borneo. These bushes are then “given away” to clients.

Mainly, Heveya clients can obtain a sure variety of bushes primarily based on the scale of their buy. These bushes are given as digital tokens in a personalised pockets created by Heveya.

Furthermore, these bushes could be gifted to buddies. For every tree given away, the enterprise vegetation an extra tree.  

“This initiative not solely permits us to develop our tree planting efforts but in addition helps us join with like-minded people via our clients’ referrals. On common, we plant roughly 12,000 bushes per 12 months,” Thijs mentioned.

The corporate can be concerned in philantrophy. Every year, they sponsor college students from the Sumba Hospitality Basis (SHF), which supplies alternatives for the folks of Sumba to take part in the island’s hospitality sector.

“Given the low schooling ranges in Sumba, with out the inspiration, locals would miss out on the advantages of the rising tourism trade,” he mentioned. “The SHF prioritises sustainability and witnessing the transformation of its college students inside a 12 months is actually inspiring.”

Sustainability because the operative phrase

Providing its clients an opportunity to check their beds, Heveya has retail shops in Singapore (Tiong Bahru Showroom), Indonesia (Canggu Showroom), and Dubai. The mattresses are additionally obtainable in different choose shops in these areas.

“Moreover, now we have on-line ecommerce shops in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong, and Dubai,” he added.

At the moment, Thijs already considers Heveya to be a pacesetter in Asia for sustainable bedding merchandise. Shifting ahead, he needs to develop the model’s attain additional in Asia Pacific and the Center East.

The long-term imaginative and prescient is to develop into a world chief in this discipline.

“We determine new nations for enlargement by contemplating elements similar to low competitors and a excessive variety of foreigners,” he mentioned. “To check the potential of a market, we first launch a digital advertising and marketing marketing campaign in the goal nation and analyse the response.”

With this technique, they’ve already deliberate to open two extra retailers in Singapore—one in Vivo Metropolis with Tangs and one self-owned retailer in a related division retailer. Theyr’e additionally opening a Heveya Dubai in 2024, and may have a presence in Jakarta by 2025.

For 2026, Heveya has plans to foray into one other nation that’s but to be determined.

Initially, after I first got here throughout Heveya, I admit I used to be sceptical, questioning whether or not they have been simply greenwashing.  

My doubts have been multiplied due to Heveya’s value of S$4,488 for its SG King mattresses—dearer in comparison with related choices by different on-line choices I discovered in Singapore like Willow Mattress.

However after studying extra concerning the enterprise from Thijs, I’ve learnt that it’s greater than the product itself, however quite every thing else that comes with it. For Heveya’s case, this contains peace of thoughts.   

It feels like Heveya fairly actually needs to assist folks sleep higher at night time, via each their mattresses and the nice that they’re enabling in this world.

• Study extra about Heveya right here.
• Learn different articles we’ve written about startups right here.

Featured Picture Credit score: Thijs Veyfeyken / Heveya