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April 12, 2006
Startup Prepares To Launch Shirt That Hugs
Forget interactive TV, this startup has interactive clothes. Today the alarm:clock euro has an exclusive interview with Ryan Genz, CEO of CuteCircuit ltd, the startup that has developed a shirt that can send and receive a hug, or a sqeeze, via text messaging on mobilephones.
Genz founded CuteCircuit, along with Francesca Rosella, as a design and product development lab in 2004.
The firm has several projects, but the Hug Shirt is the one it is currently planning to market. CuteCircuit's electronic textiles, are more touchy feely, we would say, than the various iPod jacket and backpacks we've seen that were developed using technology from two other European startups, Eleksen in the UK and Interactive Wear in Germany.
a:c:Do you plan to manufacture the shirts, or license the technology to a bigger brand.
rg: We are working towards a production of "The Hug Shirt". This will be the first product that we bring to market. There have been surprising inquiries for licensing the technology from industries we would have never expected. We are in talks with various partners to see what ways they might use the technology. We have several patents pending for wearable technologies and telecommunications software.
a:c What is your biggest challenge business-wise at the moment?
rg:The Hug Shirt will be the first product from CuteCircuit, so we have a huge challenges ahead of us. It's hard to put my finger on one thing, and say 'this is our big challenge'. But money is something that would make a lot of gears turn more smoothly. Up ‘till now it had always been a great challenge to communicate the value of innovative fashion. But we've definitely noticed a sudden shift in 2006, with a marked increase in the interest towards wearable technologies. That is very positive!
a:c: You are an Italian founding team, but work in London, why?
rg: The founding team is part Italian and part American. We have two other CuteCircuit offices, one in the USA and one Italy. We recently opened the new office in London because it brings us closer to finance and business partners, and to technological resources.
London has a rich design culture and people are really interested in fashion experiments and innovation. This is a big advantage: to know that the ideas we have are getting communicated. People see it as a real innovation, worth investing in.
a:c: Do you plan to raise venture capital? If so, how much?
rg: Yes, we are raising venture capital for the production of "The Hug Shirt", but I can not be more specific at this time.
a:c: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
Read Related Posts- Eleksen Zips Up New Round (a:c euro)
Read - The locate-me jacket (a:c euro)
Posted on April 12, 2006 03:21 PM | Posted to Wireless | Permalink
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