Buzzy sleep startup Casper just filed to go public - and spent nearly half a million in marketing to get there

• Casper, the buzzy online mattress startup, filed to go public on Friday.
• A company filing shows it spent about $422.8 million on marketing between January 1, 2016, through September 30, 2019.
• It's typical for a company to increase spending in sales and marketing before they file to go public, and Casper spent $113.9 million from January to September 2019, a 23% increase year over year.
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Buzzy online mattress startup Casper filed to go public on Friday, filing paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company's filings revealed that while its net revenue grew to $357.9 million in 2018 from $259.9 million in 2017, net losses increased $92.1 million in 2018 from $73.4 million in 2017.

Casper spent nearly half a million dollars on marketing from 2016 to 2019

It's typical for a company to increase spending in sales and marketing before they file to go public, and Casper spent $113.9 million in the run-up to its IPO between January and September 2019, up 23% year over year. It spent nearly $422.8 million on marketing from January 1, 2016, to September 30, 2019, the company reported.

Peloton, by comparison, spent $324 million in 2019 in the run-up to its IPO, while WeWork spent $378.7 million in 2019 before its botched IPO.

Casper has taken a nontraditional approach to marketing

Casper is known for its nontraditional approach to marketing. It has taken out quirky outdoor ads on the New York City subway, imitated unboxing videos by encouraging consumers to share videos of themselves opening their Casper mattresses, and launched a chatbot for insomniacs. It's opened pop-ups where people can nap and has run articles about sleep in Van Winkle's, its content marketing publication.

These efforts have helped increase Casper's awareness, contributed to a 80% positive brand sentiment, according to Salesforce Social Studio, and led to an estimated 49 billion earned media impressions, Casper noted in its filing.

The company said it has a team of data scientists, statisticians, and engineers that has helped it drive nearly $3 of revenue, net of promotions for every $1 spent on marketing.

Its chief marketing officer Jeff Brooks left for insurance company Lemonade in December.