Hugsy is a Dutch startup building a smart blanket designed to recreate elements of parental kangaroo care by providing a mother’s smell, heartbeat and a supportive wrap. The blanket includes a heartbeat module that records a mother’s unique heartbeat and translates it into realistic sound and vibration, and the fabric is designed to absorb a mother’s scent. Initially the product is positioned as a home-care solution for babies up to three months and to help parents transition premature infants from hospital incubators to cribs; a hospital-specific version is planned later as clinical trials expand. The project began as a student project at Eindhoven University of Technology and the team went through the hardware-focused HighTechXL accelerator; they incorporated as a business this March. Development to date has been mostly self-funded, including €15k via the accelerator. The company aims to get a first product into the local market by spring 2018, then expand to other European markets followed by North America, and plans next-generation IoT-connected versions and a broader product portfolio.

Total raised

$0M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Jun 2017