India’s leading watch manufacturer Titan has acquired Hyderabad-based IoT startup Hug Innovations. The company is now transformed into Titan's Hyderabad Development Centre. The idea being HUG was to address women's safety issues, triggered by the Nirbhaya incident way back in 2012.

The startup's founder Raj Neravati in a Facebook post said, "HUG Innovations has finally sailed to a safe harbor. Titan acquired HUG Innovations. And yes this is a cash positive exit with 100 per cent employee satisfaction with the bonus and a great career ahead,"

The company operates from Gachibowli in Hyderabad

manufactured smartwatches incorporating safety

features in partnership with Foxconn and fitness bands, drifting a customer base of 30,000 people.

In December, HUG publicized a fitness band available on Amazon for Rs 1,799 and a smartwatch for INR 4,499. In May 2019, HUG won a US patent for gesture control technology which can raise an SOS alarm using gesticulations, reported IANS.

The statement also quoted S. Ravi Kant saying that the company was looking for expertise owned by a startup like HUG which fructified the redemption as he launched a new smartwatch, Connected X, a full touch smartwatch equipped with 13 features.

"With the launch of our modern product, Titan Connected X and the creation of Hyderabad Development Centre we have strengthened our play in the wearables journey," added Ravi Kant.

Post-acquisition, the Hug Innovations team will build the Hyderabad development center for Titan and assist with a high-end expertise in hardware, firmware, software, and cloud technology. The company stated that it will gain the convenience of access to Hug Innovations’ consumer platform and IPs that are remarkably appropriate in Titan’s wearables journey.