Metro Detroit-based Reverie is a sleep technology company contributing to the renaissance of innovation and U.S. manufacturing in Detroit with a decidedly non-automotive product: customized sleep systems (i.e., customized mattress + adjustable power base).
Since it moved headquarters to Michigan in 2012, the office has grown from five people to 50+ as it has led the fastest-growing segment of the bedding industry: adjustable power bases. Founded in 2003, Reverie’s second office is in Buffalo, New York, and it has manufacturing facilities and warehouses across the country.
“Everyone thinks ‘auto’ when they think of Detroit, but there is so much more to offer here,” says Reverie CEO and co-founder Martin Rawls-Meehan. “There is an energy and grit here that fuels innovation, plus a legacy of US manufacturing that provides inspiration as we build out our own domestic supply chain for sleep system manufacturing.”
Reverie has tapped into the local scene, developing a deep network for hiring and collaboration with local universities and companies. “We sponsor University of Michigan engineering school projects that lead to product breakthroughs and great hires,” Rawls-Meehan continues. “We are in the final stages of a sleep study with the sleep lab at Michigan State. We’re planning our 3rd annual Innovation Summit this June, designed to celebrate innovation across industries through collaboration with Detroit Innovators like Quicken and Shinola.”
And Reverie really does celebrate innovation – and sleep – with the vigor of the well-rested. Pedigreed R&D engineers and product designers and knowledgeable sleep specialists with headsets zip around the office on hover boards. The marketing team expends creative energy while lounging in a zero gravity position on the sleep systems positioned throughout the office. This company is a perfect representation of the reawakening of Detroit.
