About Us
We are a talented team with diverse experience, driven by a shared passion for creating meaningful connections and spreading love. Committed to listening, learning, and growing together, we collaborate with our hugzly coworkers, customers, and suppliers to inspire one another and achieve beyond what we ever imagined. With the limitless potential of our technology and big plans for the future—including the next generations of hugzly, the Trezure and Victor-e product lines, and exciting licensing opportunities—our future is bright!
Our hugzly™ team was on the Season 20 Premiere of CBC’s Dragons’ Den
In 2025, something exciting happened—we brought hugzly and our one-of-a-kind Light Kinections™ Technology to the set of CBC’s Dragons’ Den Season 20! Sharing our story with the Dragons was an unforgettable experience filled with heart, hope, and a few happy nerves.
Standing in that iconic Den was a powerful reminder of why hugzly exists—to help people feel close, even when they’re far apart.
Our episode aired on September 25, 2025, on CBC and CBC Gem, and we’re so grateful to everyone who tuned in, cheered us on, and felt the love behind hugzly.
Meet the hugzly™ Dream Team
At hugzly, our team wears many hats (and sometimes hugs them too)! Not only are they the minds behind running the show, but together, they form our powerhouse R&D squad. From dreaming up new features for the Light Kinections Technology to ensuring every hugzly is perfect, these leaders bring their passion and expertise to every step of the journey.
Chief Hug Officer (CEO): Frank keeps us inspired and always thinking of new ways to connect the world.
Tech & Tinker Lead (Hardware):Gord is the mastermind behind the hugzly cuddly tech magic, Light Kinections.
Code Whisperer (Software): Al makes sure hugzly speaks the language of love.
Connection Curator (Brand & Marketing): Hannah spreads the hugzly love far and wide.
Hug Hero (Customer Service): Donna is the friendly face who listens, supports, and shares your stories.
Keeper of the Hug Bank (CFO): Darrell ensures we have the resources to keep the hugs flowing.
The Story Behind hugzly™
The hugzly™ began not as a business venture, but as a deeply personal idea born from love, distance, and a desire to stay connected in the moments that matter most.
Frank Racanelli had retired—three times, in fact. After decades of international business success, he and his wife Donna had no plans to start something new, but when a simple idea touched their hearts, they knew they couldn’t walk away.
The inspiration came during a quiet conversation between Frank and Donna in the middle of the pandemic. Donna was heartbroken that she couldn’t travel to be with her nieces as they welcomed their babies into the world. She longed to hold them, support them, and show them how much she loved them—even from afar. As she shared her feelings with Frank, he noticed she kept instinctively squeezing a pillow on her lap. That’s when the idea struck him: Wouldn’t it be amazing if, when you squeezed this pillow, a pillow at their house lit up—so they could feel your presence in that moment?
That spark of an idea grew into something more.
It wasn’t just about tech. It was about connection.
Frank and Donna envisioned a product that could wrap people in love when they needed it most, whether across the street or across the globe. They assembled a dream team of experts, pioneering hardware engineers, a leader in security protocols and coding, and industry creatives who believed in the emotional impact hugzly could make.
The result was hugzly™: a simple, intuitive plush powered by Light Kinections™ (LK) Technology—a patented system that uses Wi-Fi to send light, gentle vibration, and audio between connected loved ones. One squeeze sends hugz, lighting up the recipient’s hugzly in a color that represents you. Two squeezes can deliver a recorded message like “I love you” or “I’m thinking of you.” It’s a hug from the heart—delivered through innovation.
Though the technology took years to develop, the mission of hugzly has remained beautifully simple:
To make people feel thought of, loved, and connected—even when they’re apart.
From kids with separation anxiety to aging grandparents, from families of first responders to long-distance friends, hugzly has found its place in homes around the world.
And just like the idea that sparked it, hugzly remains rooted in love, family, and the belief that no one should ever feel alone.
More Than Just Hugz
At hugzly™, we believe in creating meaningful connections—not just between loved ones, but also with the world around us. From supporting mental health and animal welfare to fostering creativity and sustainability, here’s what matters most to us:
We invite you to immerse yourself in creativity and achieve a state of flow. A flow state occurs when you’re so focused on a task that you lose yourself in the moment, finding calm, clarity, and joy. Many creative motions, like drawing or writing, help reduce anxiety, depression, and stress, while boosting your mood and even slowing your heart rate.
Through Hearts Flow, we encourage you to express your creativity with hugzly as your muse. Whether it’s drawing, painting, writing, or choreographing a dance, we’d love for you to share your creations with us. Together, we can celebrate the power of creativity and its ability to connect and heal.
For every hugzly sold, we’ll donate up to 2.5% of revenue to mental health initiatives. We prioritize organizations that have a local, immediate impact, and we invite you to get involved by recommending mental health organizations in your community. Together, we can support those who need it most and make a real difference.
We’re proud to support the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). With a presence in over 40 countries, IFAW is one of the world’s largest animal welfare and conservation charities. From ending commercial seal hunts and whaling to rescuing and releasing wild animals affected by disasters, IFAW’s work inspires us every day. For every hugzly sold, we donate up to 2.5% of revenue to help protect animals and the planet we all share.
Sustainability is at the core of hugzly. Every hugzly is crafted with eco-friendly, non-toxic polyester fabric and filled with recycled plastic fibers. Our packaging is made from recycled materials, and up to 5% of all purchases goes back to research and development for even more planet-friendly materials. We’re committed to respecting the one planet we all share and making eco-conscious choices every step of the way.
These initiatives reflect our belief that small acts of kindness—to ourselves, our communities, and our planet—can create ripples of change. Thank you for being part of the hugzly family and helping us make the world a little brighter, one hug at a time.