Teddy the Guardian
Affective computing research and technology for business.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | investor | €0.0 | round |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
* | N/A | $400k | Seed |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Related Content
Teddy the Guardian started as a brand for a smart plush teddy bear designed to monitor children's vital signs, but the underlying company, initially known as iDerma and later ID Guardian, has evolved its focus to affective computing. The company was founded in Zagreb, Croatia, by Josipa Majic and Ana Burica, who were college classmates. Their initial and most publicized product was a teddy bear embedded with medical sensors to track a child's heart rate, body temperature, and oxygen saturation. This data could be transmitted in real-time to a parent's mobile application, offering a child-friendly approach to health monitoring in both home and hospital settings.
The co-founders, Majic and Burica, developed the concept after observing issues in pediatric care while working on medical software. Their product gained significant attention, winning the 2013 Startup Open competition and securing a spot in the Seedcamp accelerator program in London. The company raised funds, including $400,000 from London-based investors, to bring the smart bear to market. By early 2015, they had reportedly sold $716,000 in preorders for the device. However, since these early successes, the founders have moved into different career paths, and the company's website (kimetz.com) and LinkedIn profile now describe a broader focus on affective computing research and technology. This field of technology, also known as emotion AI, involves developing systems that can recognize, interpret, and process human emotions. The business now specializes in codifying online emotional behavior to provide business advantages, using neuroscience tools to analyze how customers make decisions online without direct questioning.
Keywords: affective computing, emotion AI, emotional behavior analysis, consumer neuroscience, human-computer interaction, smart toy, pediatric healthtech, vital signs monitoring, wearable technology, remote patient monitoring, Josipa Majic, Ana Burica, iDerma, ID Guardian, smart sensors, health monitoring, digital health, data analytics, child wellness