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Startup of the month: Wiivv’s 3D printed, customizable insoles and sandals

Published on June 22, 2017 by Alexandrea P.

This month, we would like to introduce you to a young Canadian startup as our startup of the month of June! As personalization specialists, Wiivv is creating completely tailor-made 3D printed insoles and sandals that will bring even more comfort and customization to your life.

Using a smartphone, Wiivv digitizes your foot, offering you the possibility to personalize your insoles, straps, and thongs; delivering them to your doorstep in only a week. Seeing as this is an innovation that could be the next revolution in the orthopedic sector, we knew we had to meet them. Talking with co-founder and CEO, Shami Hargovan, we got to learn a little bit more about Wiivv and what sets them apart from others in the 3D printing industry!

3DN: Can you introduce yourself and Wiivv?

Hello, I am Shami Hargovan and I am the CEO of Wiivv, a company that I founded alongside Louis-Victor Jadavji in 2014. Wiivv is a leading consumer technology company that is ushering in a new era of body-perfect fit and function across the footwear, apparel, orthopedic and sport gear industries. Our goal is to add active, meaningful years to people’s lives.

Our company’s vision begins from the ground and works its way up, creating a better foundation for every step you take with our Wiivv Custom Fit Insoles and Wiivv Custom Fit Sandals. Everything we ship is rigorously tested, scientifically validated, and comes with a 30-day Happiness Guarantee.

Our passionate team of experts are alumni of companies such as HP, Google, Apple, Nike, 3D Systems, Land Rover, Indochino, and Microsoft. Together we have developed an industry leading, adaptive, manufacturing platform that brings on-demand, body-perfect products, and wearables into the mainstream.

Wiivv

The two founders of Wiivv

3DN: How did you come up with the idea for Wiivv?

Wiivv came from the convergence of its two founders’ visions. Louis-Victor had built a business in 3D printed vintage auto parts and had an interest in orthotics, having been prescribed them but finding them expensive and ill-fitting. I had been interested in applying 3D printing to create body-perfect gear when I was at Hewlett Packard. The decision to start literally from the ground up, with the Wiivv Custom Fit Insole, was deliberate. It gave us the opportunity to biomechanically engineer (and then scientifically test and validate) a product that would truly enhance people’s comfort and lives–while at the same time bringing custom gear to the masses at an affordable price. No one had ever done that in footwear before and we’re still leading the way.

The Wiivv Custom Fit Sandal was a natural evolution. Our customers were asking for it, and we had the smartphone and adaptive manufacturing technology ready to leverage. It was great to break our own record this spring as the most-funded 3D printed product ever on Kickstarter. We’ve always had the vision of creating custom gear for the entire body, so a sandal was the natural next step.

Wiivv

3DN: Could you tell us a little bit more about the production process for your sandals and insoles?

Once we have your foot data, using the Wiivv app and a few quick photos with your smartphone, (which measures your foot at over 200 data points), we biomechanically enhance the file and send it to our factory in California, where we use 3D tech to make your insole and assemble your sandal, which is made of both custom—strap placement, toe thong placement, and arch support—with a traditionally-manufactured footbed. We’ve optimized the commercial process to get the most yield out of our 3D printers and all our waste is recycled and reused. We then customize the product to your specifications, package, and ship it to you within seven working days (in North America).

Wiivv

3DN: What is the importance of personalization in the shoe industry?

Personalization comes down to function, fashion, and performance. Personalization allows people to express themselves, and it reduces the rate of return because personalized footwear fits so well and delivers great performance. We’re proud that our rate of return is less than 1%, which is almost unheard of, especially as people are measuring themselves from their smartphone, from anywhere. Wiivv is the only company doing custom footwear at scale; we’re delivering the most units of 3D printed footwear in the world. Compare this to Adidas and Nike’s recent play in the space–while they’re bringing supply chain disruption with 3D printed materials, we’re leading full functional customization that’s more than aesthetic, and our turnaround times are fast.

Wiivv

3DN: What are your plans for the future? Are you planning on creating custom shoes?

We have already begun true custom-fit footwear with the Wiivv Custom Fit Sandal, and we’re currently working with strategic partners on other types of footwear—we’ll be announcing some of this soon. Ultimately, we are looking to embed smart technology into our insoles and footwear as well, allowing you to collect relevant, real-time data about your performance. We see huge opportunities in creating use-case and sport-specific footwear and other wearables made just for you, all with our proprietary smartphone technology.

Wiivv

3DN: Do you have any last words for our readers?

Because our manufacturing process is so lean, our vision is to support the European market with products made locally in Europe. As demand grows, we plan to build a factory there. Right now we are supporting the UK and Ireland but by the end of the year, we’ll be supporting the EU more broadly, including Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Evonik Industries, based out of Essen, is one of our main investors, and that strategic partnership is helping us accelerate our European push.

 

What do you think of Wiivv? Let us know in a comment below or on our  Facebook and Twitter pages. Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter, with all the latest news in 3D printing delivered straight to your inbox!

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