In 2018, like so many new parents, Radhika and Bharath were sleep-deprived and overwhelmed. Their newborn wasn’t sleeping through the night, and neither were they. But unlike most parents, they didn’t just search for solutions, they decided to build one. Seven years later, what started as a homemade prototype in their living room has grown into Cradlewise — a consumer hardware company blending artificial intelligence, baby care, and smart design. Along the way, they’ve crossed continents, navigated a pandemic, weathered supply chain chaos, and built their factory in India. Just like every parent in the world, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, recently admitted he had bought “a lot of silly baby things” after the birth of his son in February 2025. But there was one product he called out as genuinely helpful: the Cradlewise crib.
Today, Cradlewise is not just a product. It offers an AI-powered smart crib that monitors and responds to a baby’s sleep patterns. The crib features a built-in baby monitor and gently bounces to soothe the baby back to sleep, aiming to enhance sleep quality for both infants and parents. It’s a company that claims to power over 30 million hours of baby sleep, attracting the attention of global tech leaders — and redefining what it means to build world-class hardware from India.
2018–2019: Product development and early engineering
The inception of Cradlewise began in 2018 with a simple problem: sleep-deprived new parents looking for a better solution. Rather than starting with a market study or investor pitch, the founding team, engineers themselves, began by prototyping for their children.
By 2019, the need for scalable production led them to China. The founders relocated for nine months to oversee early manufacturing, working directly with suppliers and engineers to finalise design and production processes. This hands-on approach helped set the foundation for a quality-focused hardware brand — a rarity in a sector where outsourced production often leads to compromise.
2020: Entering the market amid a pandemic
In early 2020, Cradlewise launched in the San Francisco Bay Area, targeting early adopters during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing was risky. With limited capital, no healthcare safety net, and two children, the founders moved to the U.S. with just four bags — a lean but determined entry into one of the world’s most competitive consumer markets.
Despite global lockdowns, the product resonated. Cradlewise combined baby monitoring, sleep tracking, and automated soothing in one smart crib, carving out a niche in the burgeoning “parent-tech” category.
2021–2022: Scaling begins
Like many hardware companies, Cradlewise faced major challenges in 2021 due to global chip shortages and supply chain delays. The team navigated logistical chaos, adapting operations and redesigning components to ensure continuity.
With India still recovering from COVID-related shutdowns, Cradlewise shifted manufacturing to Vietnam in 2022. The company continued fulfilling U.S. orders while building out its logistics and customer service operations, critical for maintaining trust in a product designed for infants.
2023–2024: India manufacturing
In 2024, Cradlewise made a strategic pivot toward vertical integration. The company established its crib manufacturing facility in India, giving it end-to-end control over design, quality, and scale. This move not only reduced cost dependencies but also aligned with India’s “Make in India” initiative, which seeks to boost domestic manufacturing of high-tech goods. With this facility operational, Cradlewise transitioned all production to India, increasing manufacturing output and laying the groundwork for expanded global distribution.
2025: India launch and global scale
This year marks Cradlewise’s official commercial launch in India — its home market — after years of refining the product abroad. The company reports over 30 million hours of baby sleep tracked and supported by its system. With a growing base of loyal customers in the U.S., Cradlewise now aims to scale operations in India and explore European and Middle Eastern markets. It is also looking to expand its product ecosystem with potential add-ons and services aimed at sleep health, pediatric monitoring, and data-driven parenting.
Cradlewise has publicly called for support from Indian government agencies, including Startup India, Invest India, and MeitY. As one of the few Indian-origin consumer hardware brands operating at global scale, it represents a strategic opportunity for India to showcase its innovation capabilities beyond software and services. The question now is not whether Indian startups can build global products, but how quickly they can scale. Cradlewise is showing one path forward.