We love hearing member success stories, so we were delighted when Matt Dyson got in touch to share some incredible news with the Enterprise Nation community.
Nearly a decade after dreaming up an idea to solve a problem faced by one very sleep-deprived family, Matt and his brother-in-law Nick Webb have now sold their one millionth Rockit Rocker – the portable device designed to help keep babies asleep in their pushchairs. 🚀
When Matt gave up his teaching job and ploughed all his savings into making the first 5,000 Rockits, he never dreamed he would reach this stage, describing it as a “real pinch me moment”.
The Bristol-based company, Rockit, was founded in 2016 after engineer Dr Nick Webb became frustrated that his three-month-old daughter Abby would only sleep while her pushchair was moving and, like many parents, he found himself endlessly walking to keep her asleep. Then, one evening, inspiration struck. Nick took apart an old printer, salvaged the motor and soldered together a makeshift device that could gently rock a stationary pushchair. The following day he tested it with Abby. It worked.
"She stayed asleep even when the pushchair stopped moving," recalled Webb. "That was the moment I realised I might be onto something.”
Armed with a PhD in vibration and acoustics engineering, Nick teamed up with his brother-in-law Matt Dyson, a former product design teacher to transform the initial prototype into a commercial product. Working part-time they spent the next 18 months refining the idea and securing support from the Design Council before launching the Rockit Rocker in 2017. The hope was Rockit may help a few hundred families. Instead, it took off and within months, the product was being stocked nationwide by major retailers including John Lewis and JoJo Maman Bébé.
The success of Rockit enabled the team to own the baby sleep category, and the range expanded with the launch of ZED, a vibration soother and nightlight, and Wooshh, a small but mighty sound soother as well as a rechargeable version of Rockit that hit the market in 2023. Further product introductions are planned, with a significant launch for the Toddler Sleep category planned for July this year.
Today, Rockit products are sold in more than 40 countries across Europe, North America, Australia and Asia and the company has won multiple awards for the product range including accolades from Junior Design, Good Housekeeping and Made for Mums to name a few.
Like many founders, Matt knows that building a business takes resilience, determination and belief in your idea. As he celebrates this incredible milestone, he shares his advice with the Enterprise Nation community:
“10 years ago my brother-in-law Nick had a lightbulb moment and invented a device to help his daughter sleep in her pushchair. Together we developed the Rockit Rocker in his shed with the aim to try and turn it into a commercial product. Fast forward to 2026 and we have to pinch ourselves as we have just sold our millionth Rockit worldwide. To all the budding entrepreneurs out there, if you have an idea that solves a real problem and there’s a clear gap in the market, don’t let people put you off. We ignored the naysayers, remained positive and focused on making Rockit a success”.