What it does: Wakefit is an e-commerce company in India that manufactures and sells sleep products, as well as gardening supplies and home furniture.
Mission: We are on a mission to revolutionize the home solutions market by empowering the decision-making power of each and every individual in choosing products that are ergonomic and well suited to an urban lifestyle.
Best known for Wakefit claims to be the ‘most reliable’ mattress brand in India with more than 75,000 loyal customers.
Staff stats: approximately 2,400 employees in India
Financials: INR1.99 billion in revenue for the financial year 2020
The good bits: The company offers an interesting internship program. Each intern earns INR100,000 to sleep for 900 hours.
The not-so-good bits: Most of the available full-time roles at Wakefit often require experienced professionals.
Ankit Garg and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda founded Wakefit in 2016 initially as a sleep wellness solutions provider. The company has diversified into other products by including gardening supplies and home furniture.
The secret to the company’s success lies in its core team, which comprises graduates of top Indian Institutes of Technology and management schools. Wakefit’s team ensures that products are of high quality yet more affordable by 50% compared to other brands.
This allowed the company to build a loyal customer base with more than 75,000 patrons. Wakefit has sold over 125,000 products since its inception.
Wakefit describes its work environment as ‘a fast-paced, rapidly growing place. Employees should expect a typical startup culture where people don multiple hats.
In other words, new hires should be comfortable with handling several tasks and meeting targets. The company may not be a good fit for people who dislike abrupt changes.
As Wakefit continues to revolutionize its products, employees may find it difficult to keep up with changes that happen after every progressive development.
When the company hits significant targets, pressure may catch up to employees and inevitably compel them to maintain good performance. This kind of work culture still proved to be effective. In 2018, Business Today recognized Wakefit as the ‘Coolest Start-Up of the Year’.
Wakefit competes with several mattress brands in India such as Duroflex, Sunday, and The Sleep Company.
Wakefit also claims to account for up to 40% of the online mattress market share. The emerging brands in this sector include Flo Mattress, SleepyCat, and Wink & Nod.
Wakefit launched the ‘Wakefit Gurukul’ in 2020 to train semi-skilled and unskilled laborers, particularly carpenters.
An estimated 400 people participated in the program across six cities. The trainees have joined the company’s workforce after completing a three-month training period.
The company also won Kaleido’s Best Campaign in Consumer Health and Fitness award for its Sleep Internship program.
Wakefit is a fast-growing sleep solutions company that offers more than the prospect of sleeping on the job. Freshers who want to join the company should keep their eyes open, as there are limited roles for inexperienced professionals
Wakefit caught the attention of local and international media in 2020 with its Sleep Internship program. Freshers with a completed degree in any field can apply, but they should be at least 25 years old.
Candidates should also write a short essay about why they are qualified for the opportunity. Wakefit may also require them to submit video recordings during the interview process.
The Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET) Program is another way for freshers to join the company. Engineering graduates should be familiar with Lean implementation, production systems, QC tools, and EMS requirements to qualify for the position.
The company also accepts GET applications from freshers with ‘Lean, Opex, Production Management, and Quality’ exposure. The hiring process usually consists of two technical rounds and an HR interview for tech roles
Aside from the short-term Sleep Internship, freshers may find it difficult to find full-time roles at Wakefit. The company often needs experienced professionals for most of the available roles. Freshers can still explore a career path in one of Wakefit’s five departments:
Design
Factory Operations (eg GET program)
Finance
Logistics and Supply Chain
Technology
Inexperienced freshers may join the company in some design jobs such as illustrators and visual designers. Entry-level employees in the other departments normally have one to two years of experience.
Sleep Interns at Wakefit earn INR100,000 after completing the 100-day program. The best intern earns another INR1 million. The company provides each intern with a Wakefit mattress and a fitness-tracking app. Best of all, interns ‘work’ from their homes.
The average annual salary at the company ranges from INR500,000 to INR600,000. Tech roles such as software engineering may earn more, usually amounting to INR700,000 per year.