The basis for Hugsy was established in a project conducted by four Master's students of Industrial Design who, in cooperation with the Máxima Medical Center in Veldhoven, searched for a way to give babies in incubators the feeling of having mom close by. This led to a special blanket for use in the incubator that not only holds the mother's scent, but also enables the baby to feel her heartbeat via a small loud speaker. One of the students, Silvie Claes, subsequently took the initiative to launch this concept commercially through the Hugsy startup.

The sum of 200,000 euros, collected in three-and-a-half months via the online platform Leapfunder, is intended for a version of the Hugsy for full-term babies, explains Claes, the startup's CEO as well as its founder. “We took part in the accelerator program on the High Tech Campus, and it became clear that our concept also has potential for healthy babies. As the consumer market is more accessible, we decided to make that our first focus. But now clinical studies are already underway, looking at the use of the Hugsy for premature babies in various Dutch hospitals.” 

A special edition of the Hugsy, without any electronics, is already available to purchase through the startup's website. Claes expects the full-term version, which should be on sale before the end of the year, to cost a little over 100 euros.