Around ten percent of newborns require special or intensive care, yet parents cannot always stay by their side. To bridge that painful gap, Ana Arcila founded Cuddling Creatures, a start-up producing a different kind of plush toys. Each toy has a recorder for messages, songs or prayers and a detachable scarf that absorbs a parent’s scent before being reattached so comfort stays close, even when parents can’t. 

The idea grew out of Ana’s own experience: her baby was diagnosed with heart failure and underwent two surgeries. Creating the first prototype helped her feel close to her child and inspired her to support other families in similar situations.

Ana has lived in Germany for 16 years and built a career in engineering and innovation management. With Cuddling Creatures, she developed a business model that prioritises social impact over cost or speed. Production takes place in Colombia, where single mothers can work from home while caring for their own children. For her personally, balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood is demanding, but Ana finds motivation in the project: “Balancing my business and a 20-month-old is a lot, but this project empowers me and gives me energy for both work, motherhood and the company.”

Cuddling Creatures is built on meaningful connections: from the products that connects parents and babies, to setting up production with a female entrepreneur in Colombia, to the network of Colombian mothers as producers. And in Germany, where she has ties to hospitals and foundations, the toys are already available in three hospitals, each supplied for a full year, ensuring families receive them free of charge.

Further information on the offers available to the Colombian diaspora can be found below.