My wife is a pediatrician with decades of experience working with newborn babies and first-time parents. She is a bit of a skeptic when it comes to parents using too many self-help books — but I have seen her recommend one book to many parents of newborns: Dr. Harvey Karp’s ‘Happiest Baby on the Block’. We used it ourselves with our two kids — the 5S technique was developed after years of research in neuroscience and child development — and they allow even the most fussy babies to fall sleep easier and for longer.

Over a year ago when Dr. Karp walked into our office and informed us about his ideas on technologies for babies — especially his invention of a smart baby bed that incorporated lessons from his famous 5S techniques to help babies sleep better — we were sold immediately. I knew his methodologies had helped millions of parents around the world, and there was an opportunity to build hardware/software systems to help this big population. A little over a year ago Lux Capital led a $10M investment into the company, Happiest Baby Inc., and I joined its Board of Directors. Today, the company is finally coming out of stealth and unveiling its first creation (Snoo) to the world — the smartest and safest baby bed ever made to revolutionize infant sleep.

Baby beds/bassinets/cribs have literally not changed for hundreds of years. They are basically some version of a box with soft liners. Well, that is about to change! Snoo is a smart baby bed that boosts infant sleep by utilizing the same rhythmic womb sensations that babies enjoyed before being born. And when babies cry, it automatically senses that and responds with increased shushing and gentle rocking — just like a parent. This triggers a calming reflex that was discovered in babies by Dr. Harvey Karp. Snoo has been tested with hundreds of babies and is able to calm even the most fussy babies within one minute. Moms and dads will tell you, it works like magic!

The smart sleeper was invented by Dr. Karp, author of the celebrated Happiest Baby on the Block and creator of the 5 S’s, in collaboration with renowned industrial designer, Yves Béhar, and MIT Media Lab engineers. Parents of newborns will love this innovation. They can get some more rest/sleep, babies will be less fussy generally as they sleep better and longer, and there are tons of long term health, family and societal benefits because of happy parents and happiest babies.

Happiest Baby is a mission-driven company dedicated to helping parents succeed at their most important job — raising healthy, happy children. The company develops science-based products and services to enhance child well-being and to help solve every day parenting challenges. Lux Capital is proud to be a backer, and we are joined in this endeavor by our partners Felicis Ventures, and Obvious Ventures, as well as many well-known parent advocates including Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Scarlett Johansson and Zoe Saldana. We look forward to the many innovations this company will bring into the world.

Go #SnooNation.