It has been said necessity is the mother of invention.
As an engineering contractor working on the NASA spacesuit program, Mark Aramli, founder and CEO of Bedjet LLC, doing business as BedJet, was irked by the fact he spent his workdays helping astronauts be as comfortable as possible in “the most hostile environment in the universe” before returning home to another evening of disrupted sleep.
A self-described “hot sleeper,” Aramli says his discomfort inspired a prototype unit that could control the air temperature under the sheets.
At first, Aramli had no intention toward a commercial enterprise.
“I built it on my kitchen table,” he said. “The product was something I created to solve a problem for myself.”
But his instinct told him he was on to something. In 2015, he began a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $1 million in less than a month.
BedJet was the first company to introduce “biorhythm sleep technology” to the market. Purchasers can preprogram personalized cooling and warming settings that can change by the hour.
Frustrated entrepreneurs could take a lesson from BedJet’s origin by looking up Aramli’s appearance on the reality television show “Shark Tank,” in 2015, in which the panel of celebrity venture capitalists each took a pass on his product.
Kevin O’Leary called the idea “dead” and told Aramli point blank, “You will never sell this product.”
Aramli shrugged off the encounter.
“If they had invested with me in 2015, they would have made 17 times their money [on returns],” he said.
Aramli could have headquartered BedJet anywhere in the world. When he settled in Newport, the reactions ranged from confusion to exasperation.
“They asked what the hell are you doing over there,” Aramli said. “I’m willing to make a little less money to balance the quality of life.”
Asked about the biggest challenge he faces today, like many business owners, Aramli pointed to the labor shortage, which is especially difficult as a technically minded company attempting to draw needed talent such as web developers and product designers to one of the priciest real estate markets in the region.
“There is a very limited labor pool for specialized people,” he said.
Early on, Aramli fielded multiple offers from private equity groups looking to secure a chunk of his startup company. But the company was growing too fast for acceptable terms to be settled.
Looking back, Aramli is glad he didn’t give the sharks a bite.
“I think of every one of those opportunities,” he said. “And I thank God I never followed through on it. Had I done so, I think the company would have failed.”
Though Aramli says he plans to keep BedJet a private company for as long as feasible, he is open to bringing in partners in the future. He has a wife and three young children, and other responsibilities such as the Aramli Foundation, a private charitable foundation he launched in 2020.
Since its inception in 2014, BedJet has seen revenue grow each year, relying on its own cash flow. It has sold more than 175,000 units in 40 countries.
“We were satisfied to build the company slower but off our own earnings,” Aramli said. “In a way, we became too big to kill, which has been a joy.”
OWNER: Mark Aramli
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Sleep technology company
LOCATION: 17 JT Connell Highway, Newport
EMPLOYEES: 16
YEAR FOUNDED: 2014
ANNUAL REVENUE: WND
