Because sleep shouldn't be hard.
We Build Sleep Systems, Not Sleep Gadgets.
Elara Chen
Cofounder & CEO
Sleep researcher turned entrepreneur. Six years at the Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center, where she published eight papers on sensory modulation of sleep architecture. Left academia in 2023 after noticing every clinical study showed multi-sensory interventions outperformed single-pathway approaches — but no consumer product implemented this.
Dr. Marcus Webb
Cofounder & Chief Science Officer
PhD in Chronobiology, University of Basel. Postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen, researching circadian disruption and metabolic health. Leads SOMNI's clinical validation protocols and research partnerships. Published twelve papers on chronobiology and sensory neuroscience.
The spark of an idea
Why do people buy sleep masks, white noise machines, weighted blankets, and pillow sprays — each backed by solid research — and still lie awake at 3 AM? The answer was hiding in plain sight in the neuroscience literature: sleep isn't controlled by one sense. It's four independent biological pathways. The products weren't failing. The approach was.
From literature to prototype
Fourteen months of sourcing, testing, and iteration. Every prototype evaluated against pathway-specific research: Does the mask block 460-480nm blue light? Does white noise raise the acoustic arousal threshold? Does the CES electrode hit the vagus nerve's auricular branch? Partnered with Shenzhen manufacturers who understood we were building medical-tool precision into consumer devices.
The data surprised us
Early testers reported something the individual studies hadn't measured: all four products together produced effects larger than any single product alone — and larger than additive models predicted. The mask blocked light. White noise masked sound. CES shifted autonomic balance. Spray signaled olfactory safety. The brain had no remaining signal to stay alert.
SOMNI launches
Four products. Four pathways. One protocol. Not a wellness brand — a neuroscience approach to a sensory engineering problem. Every product page links to the specific research it's built on. If a paper doesn't exist, we don't ship the feature. For the people who've tried everything and still can't sleep. You're not the problem. Your sensory environment is.
Bringing science to everyday life
The average time from a clinical finding to a consumer product is 17 years. We think that's too long.
Every SOMNI product is built on published research. The white noise machine references a 2021 meta-analysis of 8,242 participants. The CES device builds on 40 years of clinical research spanning 100+ studies.
We don't make claims we can't cite. This is not marketing language. This is our operating principle.
“We don't build devices to fix people. We build gentle tools to help them reconnect with what's already working within.”
— The SOMNI Manifesto
The Name
SOMNI comes from the Latin somnus — sleep. Not passive sleep. The kind that happens when your brain receives every sensory signal it evolved to need: light blocked, sound masked, touch soothed, scent signaling safety. That is the idea behind the name.
Mission & Vision
Mission
To make deep, restorative sleep accessible — not through medication, but by giving your brain the precise sensory signals it evolved to need.
Vision
A world where sleep isn't something you chase. It's the natural result of getting the conditions right. Science, not willpower.
Slogan
Sleep Science. Engineered.
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We dedicate 1% of our revenue to independent sleep research and open-access publication. Every purchase funds real science.