SOLS, a 3D-printing company which, to date, has focused on printing custom shoe insoles prescribed by doctors for foot pain and other ailments, has now raised an additional $11.1 million in funding to help bring the product directly to consumers. The move will make it one of the first companies to use 3D printing technologies to market custom-manufactured wearables.
The round, which arrives in less than a year after SOLS’ $6.4 million Series A last April, including participation from prior investors Founders Fund and Lux Capital, as well as new investments from Tenaya Capital and Melo7 Tech Partners, a fund founded by Carmelo Anthony and Stuart Goldfarb.
In addition, the company announced this morning that Dallas Mavericks’ president and CEO Terdema Ussery would join its board of directors.
The new investors and the board addition also hint at SOLS’ plans to address the needs of athletes with its custom shoe inserts, which are created by first having the end user “scan” their foot by recording a video using a mobile application. SOLS then runs a series of processing algorithms to help it create its custom insole, combining that data with other information like your height, weight, lifestyle, how the insert will be used, and more.
New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, who invested in the round, says that, as an athlete, he understands “the relationship between high performance, skill and proper biomechanical alignment. He also called SOLS a pioneer in the 3D printed, custom orthotics space.
Last year, SOLS had dozens of doctors around the U.S. prescribing the inserts to patients, and was poised to allow those doctors to begin reselling the products themselves at market rates of $300 to $700. Today, the company notes that there are now over 300 medical professionals offering its products to their patients.
With the new funding, SOLS has raised a total of $19.3 million to date.