AirTulip Founder Breakthrough Sleep Tech to Shark Tank

Photo Credit: Courtesy of AirTulip

Dutch aerospace engineer Arjen de Jong captivated the Shark Tank set on April 11, 2025, presenting AirTulip‘s approach to sleep health. Seeking $400,000 for just four percent equity in AirTulip, de Jong’s confident $10 million valuation reflected his vision for transforming how people breathe while they sleep. 

His headboard creates a protective bubble of purified air that the company markets as delivering an air zone “1,000 times cleaner than traditional purifiers” per in-house Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis done in May 2024. During the Shark Tank demonstration, Mark Cuban immediately recognized AirTulip’s potential broader applications for hospitals and cribs, while Kevin O’Leary tested the bed himself, noting it was “silent and comfortable.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of AirTulip

AirTulip’s early success visibly impressed the Shark Tank panel: 100 presold units at $2,000+ a piece. That traction came even though the team had only just completed product development. With production costs of $1,500 per unit, the premium-priced AirTulip maintained a gross margin ranging from 24.6% to 57.0%, depending on the model. While several sharks expressed concerns about the valuation, Kevin O’Leary remained enthusiastic, calling the product “impressive” and making an offer of $400,000 for 22.5 percent equity. 

Though negotiations didn’t result in a deal, filming wrapped in September  2024, de Jong’s belief in AirTulip’s future value led him to maintain majority control. O’Leary’s parting words on Shark Tank spoke volumes: he would still buy the product himself, which is a powerful endorsement of AirTulip’s technology even without an investment deal.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of AirTulip

The Science Behind Cleaner Sleep Air

What makes AirTulip unique is de Jong’s ingenious application of laminar airflow principles. This sophisticated technology was once limited to hospitals and industrial cleanrooms. Unlike conventional air purifiers that simply mix filtered and unfiltered air throughout a room, AirTulip creates an isolated zone of exceptionally clean air precisely where it matters most.

The sleek AirTulip headboard houses dual HEPA-H14 filters that remove an impressive 99.997 percent of airborne particles. Using computational fluid dynamics borrowed from aircraft wing design, AirTulip creates a controlled curtain of clean air that cascades over the sleeper. All this happens without drafts or detectable noise. At just 26 to 30 decibels, comparable to rustling leaves, the AirTulip system provides hospital-grade air quality without disrupting sleep.

Eindhoven University of Technology independently tested the AirTulip headboard prototype. This confirms reductions in airborne particles at the head level of a sleeping person. Internal and independent tests indicate that particle counts in the immediate breathing zone can be reduced to nearly zero. These lead to a premium sleep environment unlike anything currently available on the market.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of AirTulip

From Aerospace to Bedroom

De Jong’s exceptional founding of AirTulip began with a stellar career in aerospace engineering. His Ph.D. in Fluid Mechanics opened doors to prestigious positions optimizing aerodynamics for luxury automakers Porsche and Ferrari. Afterwards, he advanced to NASA’s Langley Research Center. This rare combination of high-performance automotive and aerospace expertise gives AirTulip a significant competitive edge that few consumer health companies can match.

His family’s cleanroom and aircraft equipment business in the Netherlands provided de Jong with practical insights that would later prove invaluable. When the COVID-19 pandemic heightened global awareness of airborne transmission in 2020, de Jong brilliantly pivoted his New York-based airflow optimization firm Airdaptive (founded in 2014). This is to adapt professional-grade cleanroom technology for residential use.

De Jong’s cross-industry expertise continues driving AirTulip’s evolution. As he stated, “We already know how to create pristine air environments for manufacturing microchips. Now we are applying that same level of precision to protecting human health.” This vision, combined with growing awareness of indoor air quality’s importance, positions AirTulip at the forefront of the next generation of home health technology.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of AirTulip

The Shark Tank experience demonstrated that AirTulip represents something truly special – a unique product that impressed even the most skeptical investors with its engineering excellence. With the company now offering a 30-night risk-free trial and plans to launch a public investment round in the coming months, AirTulip is gaining momentum in the consumer market.

Meanwhile, AirTulip is looking into collaborations with hospitals in both the Netherlands and New York for applications such as post-operative recovery. Through both consumer adoption and medical applications, AirTulip is positioned to transform how people think about the air they breathe during their most vulnerable hours.

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