Redesigning Sleep: How nornnorn is Reinventing Mattresses for a Sustainable Future
When you think of disruptive startups, a mattress-related company might not be the first thing that comes to mind.
But that’s exactly what nornnorn is — a bold Thai venture rewriting the future of comfort, sustainability, and ownership. Leading the change is Nophol Techaphangam, or Naps to his friends, a fourth-generation heir to a 95-year-old mattress legacy who chose not to preserve tradition, but to transform it.
At a fireside chat hosted by CIMB Thai in Bangkok on August 8, Naps shared his story. And what the audience heard? A conversation that went far beyond mattresses — touching on climate impact, circular business models, green finance, and the emotional rollercoaster of building something radically new.
A Family Business Reimagined
Most family businesses aim to preserve a legacy. Naps chose to challenge his.
After ten years working in the traditional mattress industry — under a household brand like Springmate — he began questioning not just how the business operated, but its impact.
"The mattress industry is a massive environmental blind spot. Over 150 million mattresses are thrown away every year, most ending up in landfills," Naps said. "Recycling them? Nearly impossible — too complex and not worth the effort and cost.”
Instead of continuing the cycle, he broke it, launching nornnorn, the world’s first circular economy mattress subscription service back in late 2018. The idea was radical: Subscribe, don’t own. Use, return, recycle.
A Circular Business Model That Works
nornnorn’s product-as-a-service model makes high-quality, hotel-grade mattresses accessible from just THB 89/month, with no upfront cost. Customers can subscribe, sleep, and, when the mattress reaches end-of-life , nornnorn takes it back, breaks it down, and gives all the components a second life. The costly end-of-life recycling process is subsidised by the profit made from the subscriptions.
Behind that simple-sounding concept is a complex, innovative financing engine:
Green bonds and digital investment tokens fund purchases of the mattresses that customers then subscribe for
Subscription contracts provide predictable long-term cash flow that services the bonds and tokens.
“Every digital investment token we issue is backed by long-term product subscription contracts”, Naps explained. “The tokens are issued in Thailand in Thai baht. They are not crypto - they’re a new way to align capital with impact powered by the blockchain technology.”
nornnorn is the first startup in Thailand to issue green bonds back in December 2021. That bold step led it to become Southeast Asia’s first startup to issue digital investment tokens in early 2024 once the regulation allowed, paving the way for it to scale sustainably in the years ahead.
Scaling in a Complicated World
Now that all the moving components behind its business model is complete, the startup aims to scale from the tens of customers it has now to 400,000 subscribers across Thailand and Indonesia by 2029.
Achieving that requires more than marketing. It demands solid infrastructure, market’s trust, and patience.
“Sustainability isn’t easy. Every part of our business model — from sustainability-proofing to financing to recycling — had to be built from scratch,” Naps admitted. “That’s why it’s taken us seven years of piloting to get to this point, where we are ready to scale.”
The end-of-life recycling processes require careful planning to minimise potential financial loss, with R&D partnerships with institutions like the University of Cambridge playing a part.
"Given the technology available right now, we would be lucky to achieve breakeven on the recycling”, he laughed. “With enough recycling tech R&D and ever-rising green material prices, however, the process could perhaps achieve breakeven when we start it in around 2029.”
The Thai Advantage: Policy and Regulation
While many entrepreneurs look abroad for innovation, Naps credits Thailand for enabling key parts of nornnorn’s journey:
Regulatory support for digital investment token issuances
Public alignment with the Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) agenda
An ecosystem increasingly open to sustainable business models
In other words: Circular pioneers like nornnorn don’t quite have to swim upstream alone.
Still, challenges remain.
"Government policy often works through sticks, not carrots,” Naps said. “We need more holistic incentives for businesses and consumers to make responsible choices."
Purpose as a Competitive Edge
Perhaps the most powerful moment came when Naps reflected not on strategy, but on values:
"For almost 100 years, our family’s business extracted value from nature. Now, it’s our turn to give back.”
This philosophy drives the company’s product design direction (more easily recyclable mattresses; lighter, self-cleaning mattresses for elderlies, etc.), its operations (planning for the mattresses’ end-of-life from day one), and its vision: To become carbon-negative while enabling conscious consumption at scale.
It’s no longer about selling mattresses. It’s about redefining what it means to sleep well — ethically, sustainably, and affordably.
Advice to Entrepreneurs: Just Start
To close the session, Naps offered advice to aspiring founders — especially those stuck waiting for the perfect plan or the right moment:
“If your idea makes business sense and matches the world’s needs — try it. Don’t overthink. You’ll never know until you do.”
He paused, then smiled.
“And don’t be too fancy. Just run. Fix things as you go. Doing a startup is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Final Thoughts
nornnorn is more than a clever business model. It’s a case study on how circular thinking, long-term financing, and emotional resilience can build a new kind of company — one that grows not by consuming more, but by wasting less.
In a world searching for sustainable solutions, nornnorn offers more than sleep.
It offers a wake-up call — and perhaps, a foundation for a post-consumerist society where value is measured not in ownership, but in thoughtful, responsible consumption.
As the climate clock ticks louder, models like this show us that better systems aren’t just possible — they’re already here.