About Us

Our Journey

Our story is as diverse as the stars in the night’s sky, but it is one with a primary focus, to ensure older Australians can live their best life through the power of sleep.

The matriarch and her son

The van den Dungen family first started focusing on the importance of providing quality care for Australia’s ageing population when Sleeptite founder Cameron van den Dungen’s Oma, Petronella (Nellie) van den Dungen, opened and ran a number of private aged care homes in Melbourne, Victoria. This was Nellie’s passion and meant all her family were exposed to aged care from a young age. 

Nellie’s son, Henk (Cameron’s father), is the second link in the Sleeptite story - branching away from aged care and focusing on the world of quality sleep. Starting out working in the bedding department at Myer, Henk ultimately became one of the founding members of Forty Winks - now one of Australia’s leading retail bedroom specialists – and still owns a store in Hawthorn today. 

The man who shoots for the stars

While starting his working life in advertising, Cameron, inspired by his father, was driven by a desire to improve the wellbeing, care and health outcomes for all Australians through innovative sleep technologies. Intrinsically curious about the future of the bedding industry he started investigating new technology and how it could make an impact in the years to come.

The more Cameron researched the more he became frustrated by the sleep and bedroom technology that was becoming available on the market. Used as a marketing tool rather than as a platform to truly change someone’s sleep behaviours, he believed this technology was being underutilised and incorrectly implemented. 

Expanding his connections and contacts, Cameron searched - both nationally and internationally - for companies experimenting with advanced biometric data monitoring. At one point he even partnered with the Physiology Department of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), in attempting to scientifically answer the question of what is the ‘perfect mattress’ for each different type of athlete.

All the while a little voice kept nagging and he kept digging. 

The circle completes

During this time, Nellie had come full circle and spent the final years of her life in various levels of aged care. Cameron’s experience through Nellie’s journey, coupled with his ongoing inspiration and advice from various mentors, led to a lightbulb moment! What if he could use non-invasive technology to assist with the monitoring of movements of aged care residents throughout the night? What if he could create a tool to help assist carers watch over their residents without requiring them to be woken?

With a clearer focus Cameron got to work and on the 5th of May 2017, Sleeptite was founded. 

The “Sleeptite Rockstars” 

Through a mutual contact at the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), a meeting was set up between Cameron and Australian research leader, Professor Madhu Baskaran, from RMIT University. Both organisations instantly realised they could combine Cameron’s idea, with the technology Madhu and her research team at RMIT were developing in the lab. They now had the opportunity to create a product that could revolutionise the aged care sector.

With the technology in hand, Sleeptite needed a manufacturing partner that had the ability to turn both ideas into a market ready reality. Mattress manufacturer Sleepeezee Bedding Australia, joined Sleeptite as a Project Partner and the gap between idea and execution found its solution.

Vital support

With all the pieces of the puzzle coming together, Sleeptite was suddenly facing its biggest hurdle. The company needed to to find the funding to turn what everyone knew was a life-changing product into a reality.  Then in July 2018, the team at Sleeptite, received the news they had all been waiting for, the Australian Government awarded the company a three-year Cooperative Research Centre-Project grant. The Sleeptite research and development could finally begin! 

Sleeptite is currently in the final phase of getting its non-invasive monitoring system ready for field trials. While these trials were due to be rolled out in mid-2020 field trials have had to be delayed due to the ongoing impacts the global Coronavirus pandemic is having across Australia.

Technology meets design 

When Sleeptite began visiting residential aged care facilities to conduct field research, the team members were all taken aback by the clinical-looking bedrooms. Not content with just ensuring residents could sleep better, Sleeptite established an entire division dedicated to ensuring residents get to sleep in fully functional care beds with a stylish flair. 

Working with Australian manufacturers and German engineers, Sleeptite has now created a new generation of adjustable beds and aged care mattresses. These products are designed to perform clinically, but are warm and welcoming - providing residents with a feeling that they are truly in a home and not a hospital.