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January 27, 2014 09:41 pm GMT
Kegan Schouwenburg had been looking for the product that could help take 3D printing technology to the mainstream, and ended up finding inspiration in an unexpected space: orthotics. Now co-founder and CEO at SOLS, the former Director of Operations and Industrial Engineering at 3D printery Shapeways is working toward solving everyday problems involving foot pain and uncomfortable shoes with custom 3D-printed insoles which promise both a perfect fit and improved performance. SOLS is also announcing it has closed on $1.75 million in seed funding, in a priced round led by Lux Capital, with participation from RRE, Rothenberg Ventures, Start Garden, Felicis Ventures, Grape Arbor, Silicon Badia, Terawatt Ventures, Funders Guild, Expansion VC, ALMand other angels. The round actually closed in December, saysSchouwenburg, but the company didn’t publicize that news until recently. ALM (Advanced Laser Materials) of Austin, Texas, is SOLS’ strategic investor, and is helping with the development of the materials and the production. Schouwenburg, whose background is in industrial design, says she’s always loved making things and “seeing physical objects come to life.” She founded her first company, Design Glut, after graduating from Pratt, which saw its mass manufactured products sold into national chains, like Urban Outfitters and Target. Around the same time as she was hitting issues with expanding production, she came across 3D printing technology. “I thought, my god, 3D printing is the answer to this. It’s this beautiful collision of being able to make things instantaneously at the same cost no matter whether you make one or a thousand, and [being able to] rapidly increase the speed of development and time to market.” As the sixth employee for Shapeways in the U.S. – a job she pestered them for with repeated phone calls – she first was the team lead for distribution, and later had the opportunity to build a Shapeways factory. While there, she saw all the parts that 3D makers, designers and hobbyists were sending through the Shapeways facility, and began to think about what might be 3D printing’s big mass market hit yet to come. Her answer – custom-printed insoles – was inspired by the weird, 3D printed shoes that came down the line. They were shoes that nobody, outside of Lady Gaga, could walk in, Schouwenburg recalls with a laugh.”But what if we made real shoes that people could walk in?,” she found herself thinking. And instead of customizing the outside of
Original Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uEAEmXhjjAo/
SOLS Raises $1.75 Million To Make 3D-Printed Shoe Insoles Both Sexy & Mainstream
Kegan Schouwenburg had been looking for the product that could help take 3D printing technology to the mainstream, and ended up finding inspiration in an unexpected space: orthotics. Now co-founder and CEO at SOLS, the former Director of Operations and Industrial Engineering at 3D printery Shapeways is working toward solving everyday problems involving foot pain and uncomfortable shoes with custom 3D-printed insoles which promise both a perfect fit and improved performance. SOLS is also announcing it has closed on $1.75 million in seed funding, in a priced round led by Lux Capital, with participation from RRE, Rothenberg Ventures, Start Garden, Felicis Ventures, Grape Arbor, Silicon Badia, Terawatt Ventures, Funders Guild, Expansion VC, ALMand other angels. The round actually closed in December, saysSchouwenburg, but the company didn’t publicize that news until recently. ALM (Advanced Laser Materials) of Austin, Texas, is SOLS’ strategic investor, and is helping with the development of the materials and the production. Schouwenburg, whose background is in industrial design, says she’s always loved making things and “seeing physical objects come to life.” She founded her first company, Design Glut, after graduating from Pratt, which saw its mass manufactured products sold into national chains, like Urban Outfitters and Target. Around the same time as she was hitting issues with expanding production, she came across 3D printing technology. “I thought, my god, 3D printing is the answer to this. It’s this beautiful collision of being able to make things instantaneously at the same cost no matter whether you make one or a thousand, and [being able to] rapidly increase the speed of development and time to market.” As the sixth employee for Shapeways in the U.S. – a job she pestered them for with repeated phone calls – she first was the team lead for distribution, and later had the opportunity to build a Shapeways factory. While there, she saw all the parts that 3D makers, designers and hobbyists were sending through the Shapeways facility, and began to think about what might be 3D printing’s big mass market hit yet to come. Her answer – custom-printed insoles – was inspired by the weird, 3D printed shoes that came down the line. They were shoes that nobody, outside of Lady Gaga, could walk in, Schouwenburg recalls with a laugh.”But what if we made real shoes that people could walk in?,” she found herself thinking. And instead of customizing the outside ofOriginal Link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uEAEmXhjjAo/
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