The pitch
What walked into the Den
Hugzly, the connected plush toy from Frank Racanelli and Hannah Deckert that sends hugs, vibration, light and audio between paired units, opened season 20 as the premiere pitch in episode 1. The Delta, British Columbia team came in swinging hard, staking a huge number before a single Dragon responded.
Looked to land $3,000,000 in return for 30 percent, which implied about $10,000,000.
After the show
What happened next
No investment followed.
The company site was running in July 2026 with shop and order navigation and named products.
Our read
The Hub verdict
Hugzly opened season 20 with one of the largest swings in the Canadian set: a three-million ask for thirty percent, a ten-million valuation on a connected plush toy, staked before a single Dragon responded. A premiere-slot pitch at that price is built to make a statement.
No Dragon invested, and the company says so plainly on its own site. Connected plush toys carry the cost structure of consumer electronics with the price ceiling of a toy: paired units, firmware, batteries and support, all sold at a price a parent will accept for something a child may outgrow within a year. A ten-million valuation was always going to have to answer that.
A ten-million swing in the premiere, and no investment
Worth knowing: A similar-era Delta headline about a Dragons’ Den deal refers to a different, unrelated company.
