Feb. 26, 2026
An innovative gel mattress material and design patented by a Sioux Falls entrepreneur is being scaled up nationally.
Chris Larson, founder of Comfort King Mattress Factory, first envisioned a next-generation sleep material that used gel technology combined with a unique, spiral grid design instead of the typical square-grid configurations used in the mattress market.
Larson compared it visually to “a field of floating umbrellas.”
The idea led to FLOWT zero-gravity gel technology, which was developed from a joint research initiative between Larson’s company and the North Dakota State University engineering department, in partnership with the Centers of Excellence Commission.
Larson has Comfort King stores in Sioux Falls and Fargo.
The process of creating the sleep material used advanced manufacturing technology, including 3D printing of the human body and customized mattress engineering.
Larson applied for a patent for his concept, which was awarded in 2023.
“As a small company, it can be very difficult to get a new idea off the ground, and I had a difficult time initially finding a manufacturer to help me develop it,” he said.
He turned to the Italian company Gel Industries, which helped complete the engineering process, and Larson began featuring the technology in Comfort King beds.
Earlier this year, global bedding manufacturer King Koil introduced the technology in its own product line: the FLOWT mattress collection shown at an industry market in Las Vegas.
“Chris Larson did a lot of research and experimenting, and we were very excited to closely collaborate with the inventor of this innovative technology in creating our newest collection,” said David Binke, CEO of King Koil, which is now the exclusive distributor of the patented gel technology in North America.
The five-bed FLOWT collection of hybrid and hand-tufted models features a uniquely balanced sleep surface of interconnected gel spirals that twist as a sleeper moves, the company said. It adapts to the body while eliminating motion transfer between partners. The technology eliminates the “sinking feeling” that can occur with square grid gel mattresses, and the spiral grid design supports ventilation flow in every direction. The adaptive cooling thermal gel absorbs and releases heat to keep sleepers cool throughout the night.
King Koil is purchasing 40-foot containers of FLOWT gel from Comfort King. Then, it’s incorporated into King Koil mattresses and sold through the company’s own channels, as well as retailers nationwide. It’s already being manufactured in King Koil’s Phoenix plant and is expected to become part of the production line on the East Coast in the second or third quarter of this year.
King Koil mattresses are carried at retailers such as Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
The FLOWT mattresses will be carried in South Dakota and North Dakota only through Comfort King.
“This exclusive partnership with King Koil positions FLOWT as a cornerstone material in the next generation of luxury sleep systems,” Larson said.
“We’ve been constructing Comfort King mattresses with FLOWT technology for the past five years, and our customers love it, and it was incredibly gratifying to see the excitement from other retailers in the King Koil showroom during the Las Vegas market. We know it’s simply the most comfortable cushion material out there.”
