Kevin Spacey, 50 Cent and Target clamour for mattress maker Casper

WHAT do Kylie Jenner, Kevin Spacey, Carmelo Anthony and 50 Cent have in common? They all want a piece of this company.

Mattress-in-a-box start-up Casper. Picture: Rachel Murray/Getty Images

ONLINE mattress company Casper on Monday said it closed a $224 million ($US170 million) Series C investment round led by Target and including entertainment heavyweights actor Kevin Spacey, rapper 50 Cent and NBA star Carmelo Anthony.

The mattress-making start-up said the new capital, which brings the New York-based company’s total funding to $316 million ($US240 million), will go toward product innovation and a design lab in San Francisco.

Previous celebrity investors during the firm’s Series B funding round included Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio and Adam Levine.

On the agenda for the three-year-old start-up, which the company confirmed to FOX Business is valued at $988 million ($US750 million) excluding the new capital, is a slate of new products and an effort to bring the online retailer into the offline distribution space.

Among the first efforts to achieve that goal, Target on Sunday began selling the cult-favourite Casper mattresses, along with the company’s pillow, sheets, mattress topper, and lounge chair in select stores and on Target.com.

Until now, Casper products have been available exclusively online. The company’s model has largely been credited with disrupting the mattress retail category, giving shoppers an alternative to traditional store-to-store mattress shopping since the brand ships its product in a compact box and gives customers 100 nights to sleep on the mattress with the option to return it for a full refund if needed.

Kylie Jenner poses with her Casper mattress. Picture: Instagram

Actor Kevin Spacey. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

Rapper Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent. Picture: Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic

NBA star Carmelo Anthony. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Since the brand’s inception in 2014, Casper competitors — including Leesa, Tuft & Needle, Bear and eve — have popped up in hopes of capitalising on the millennial-led trend of e-commerce buy-and-try shopping.

The massive shift to online shopping, sparked by e-commerce giant Amazon’s growing popularity, has turned the bricks-and-mortar retail industry on its head in recent years. Shoppers — particularly younger generations — much prefer to fill virtual shopping baskets from the comfort of their homes and then try on and test products when they receive them in the mail.

For former titans of the industry, including Macy’s, JCPenney Sears and even Target that’s meant an introspective look and a shake-up of their business models in order to compete and stay relevant as Amazon looks to take more market share, with its recent proposed $18 billion ($US13.7 billion) Whole Foods buy as the latest example.

For its part, Target’s partnership with Casper is part of its efforts to re-imagine its brand portfolio to include a well-known designers and products that resonate with its shoppers. In the first quarter, a partnership with designer Victoria Beckham proved to be its biggest partnership to date.

This article originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission.