Student-Created Jacket Crashes Kickstarter

Hiral Sanghavi's travel jacket boasts 15 features, including an eye mask, myriad pockets and an inflatable travel pillow.

When frequent flier Hiral Sanghavi got on the plane and realized he had forgotten his travel pillow — again — he decided it was time to innovate.

Sanghavi, a Kellogg School of Management student, spent the flight sketching a travel jacket with his wife, Yoganshi Shah, a user experience designer at Riverbed Technology in California. The jacket boasts 15 features, including an eye mask, myriad pockets and that all-important inflatable travel pillow.

The couple launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for BauBax jackets — a name that combines both of their nicknames — in early July with a goal of $20,000. They met that total in five hours. The fundraising initiative ultimately surpassed $9.1 million and became Kickstarter’s most successful clothing campaign ever. Nearly 45,000 supporters ordered more than 70,000 jackets, which come in four styles and run from $89 to $120.

Sanghavi decided to take a break from Kellogg in the fall to focus on launching BauBax in San Francisco. He began manufacturing shortly after the Kickstarter campaign, hoping to ship jackets in time for the 2015 holiday season.

Sanghavi, who plans to finish his MBA at Kellogg, says BauBax will launch another innovative product within the next nine months.