Who Owns Manta Sleep?

Mark Zhang conceived Manta Sleep after years of frustration with conventional sleep masks. A light sleeper since adolescence, he found existing products either uncomfortable, ineffective at blocking light, or quick to fall apart. Together with co-founder Ben, an industrial designer, he developed a modular mask built around adjustable eye cups that could seal out light without pressing on the eyes.

The founders launched the first Manta Sleep Mask through Kickstarter and Indiegogo in 2016, raising more than $700,000 combined. The campaign's success, driven largely by sleep-focused marketing and functional design differentiation, provided both production capital and early publicity. The company began operating from Jackson, Wyoming, in 2017, running as a Shopify-based direct-to-consumer business.

Early growth was fast for a bootstrapped brand. According to Zhang's account in a 2021 Starter Story interview, monthly revenue grew from roughly $10,000 to more than $700,000, powered by paid social advertising funneled to editorial-style landing pages. The customer base passed 300,000 by 2021 and the brand now claims more than two million customers.

The product line expanded around a single problem: light control for sleep. The original modular mask was joined by the Manta PRO for side sleepers, the Manta SOUND mask with integrated Bluetooth audio, silk and cooling variants, earplugs, body pillows, and travel accessories. The Manta SOUND Sleep Mask was named to TIME's Best Inventions of 2025 list, the brand's most prominent mainstream recognition.

Manta Sleep has remained independent through 2026, operating a lean team with a presence in Taiwan close to its manufacturing base while the corporate entity sits in Wyoming.