For someone with plantar fasciitis or flat feet, the path to a custom orthotic is often paved with inconvenience. It requires finding a specialist, booking an appointment, and making a physical impression of the foot, often with foam in a clinic. Stride Soles, a telepodiatry startup founded in 2023, is betting that a smartphone camera and a remote clinical review can replace that entire in-person ritual [PERPLEXITY SONAR PRO BRIEF, retrieved 2025]. The company reports it is nearing its 1,000th customer by offering medical-grade, custom-designed insoles through a direct-to-consumer digital channel [INSEAD, April 2025].
Its wedge is not a novel material or a proprietary algorithm, but a carefully constructed bridge between digital convenience and old-world orthopedic craftsmanship. Every insole is still designed by hand, but the hands belong to a master podiatrist in Oberkochen, Germany, not a local clinic. The patient's data arrives via an app, not a waiting room.
The digital path to a physical device
Stride Soles' process begins with a patient completing a podiatrist-designed intake quiz on their phone. They then use the smartphone's camera to perform a 3D foot scan and record a short video for gait analysis [yourerie.com, July 2025]. This data bundle is reviewed remotely by the clinical team, which includes co-founder Dr. Zachary Cartun, MD. If approved, the design specifications are sent to the company's manufacturing partners in Germany.
The critical differentiator sits in Baden-Württemberg. There, a team led by master podiatrist Dietmar Walter and his son, orthotics engineer Dominik Walter, translates the digital specs into a physical device. Stride Soles claims the Walter clinic is a third-generation operation that has produced over 200,000 orthotics over 70 years [Stride Soles, retrieved 2026]. This partnership provides the venture with a ready-made foundation of medical credibility and manufacturing expertise that would take decades to build from scratch.
Traction through clinics and direct sales
The company is pursuing a two-sided growth strategy, serving both individual consumers and professional clinics. By April 2025, Stride Soles reported having 15 physical-therapy clinics on its platform [INSEAD, April 2025]. For these partners, the service acts as a telehealth extension, allowing them to offer custom orthotics without maintaining in-house fabrication labs.
On the consumer side, the company had sold 560 pairs of custom orthotics by January 2025 [Brookline.News, January 2025]. A community newsletter later reported the company had bootstrapped to $140,000 in revenue in its first six months, with 95% of that attributed to unpaid marketing channels [The Garage SF newsletter, May 2025]. The leadership team remains lean, with LinkedIn listing 1-10 employees [PERPLEXITY SONAR PRO BRIEF, retrieved 2025].
The founding team's clinical-commerce blend
The co-founders bring complementary backgrounds that map directly to the venture's hybrid nature. CEO Gregory Gerla is a former Procter & Gamble brand manager and an Ironman athlete, providing commercial and product-market fit intuition [PERPLEXITY SONAR PRO BRIEF, retrieved 2025]. Dr. Zachary Cartun, who holds both an MD and an MBA, focuses on developing the clinical workflows and ensuring medical rigor [INSEAD, retrieved 2026].
Their early funding reflects an academic and angel-backed beginning rather than a large institutional round. The company won €35,000 as the grand prize in the 47th INSEAD Venture Competition, with an additional €10,000 from a venture capital firm [INSEAD, April 2025]. Caplight also records a $37,000 grant from Loyal VC in November 2023 [Caplight, November 2023].
| Role | Name | Key Background |
|---|---|---|
| Co-Founder & CEO | Gregory Gerla | Former P&G brand manager; Ironman athlete [PERPLEXITY SONAR PRO BRIEF]. |
| Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer | Dr. Zachary Cartun, MD | Physician (UMass Medical School) and INSEAD MBA [PERPLEXITY SONAR PRO BRIEF]. |
| Chief Podiatrist & Manufacturing Partner | Dietmar Walter | Master podiatrist leading a third-generation orthotics clinic in Germany [Stride Soles, retrieved 2026]. |
| Head of Design & Manufacturing Partner | Dominik Walter | Orthotics engineer with 15 years of experience in the family workshop [Stride Soles, retrieved 2026]. |
Navigating a regulated and crowded market
The company's ambitions are set against a large market, which it cites as worth $6.7 billion [PR Newswire, July 2025]. However, the path is lined with credible challenges that go beyond typical startup execution risk.
- Clinical validation. While the German workshop provides pedigree, the efficacy of the smartphone-scan-and-remote-review method for a wide range of pathologies,from arthritis to limb length discrepancy,lacks independent, peer-reviewed study. The company's claims are currently supported by its own clinical protocols and the reputation of its partners.
- Regulatory posture. As a device intended to treat medical conditions, custom orthotics exist in a regulatory gray area between consumer wellness and medical devices. Stride Soles' current model, which includes remote podiatric review, may attract more scrutiny from bodies like the FDA as it scales, potentially requiring clearance or impacting its workflow.
- Economic durability. The reported early revenue is promising but modest. The true test will be whether the unit economics of custom manufacturing and shipping, combined with customer acquisition costs, can support a profitable venture at scale, especially if paid marketing becomes necessary.
The company's most plausible answer to these risks is its embedded medical partnership. By anchoring its process with a licensed podiatrist (Cartun) and an established orthopedic workshop (the Walters), it builds a defensible moat of trust and expertise that pure software or DTC competitors cannot easily replicate.
The next twelve months
For Stride Soles, the coming year will be about proving repeatability beyond its early adopter base. Key milestones to watch include the formal crossing of the 1,000-customer mark, the expansion of its clinic partnership network beyond the initial 15, and any movement toward a larger funding round to fuel scaling. The company's ability to convert its current unpaid marketing success into a sustainable, scalable acquisition engine will be critical.
The patient population here is broad, encompassing anyone from the weekend runner with Achilles tendonitis to the individual with diabetic neuropathy seeking offloading pressure. The conditions are common, chronic, and often poorly served by over-the-counter solutions.
The standard of care today remains fragmented. For those with good insurance and access, it involves a referral to a podiatrist or orthotist, a clinic visit for casting or scanning, and a wait of weeks for a device that can cost hundreds of dollars. For everyone else, it's a shelf of generic arch supports and a hope they fit. Stride Soles is not just selling an insole, it is testing whether a deeply analog, hands-on medical craft can be reliably distributed through a digital pipe, bringing a specific kind of relief to a waiting market.
Sources
- [INSEAD, April 2025] Striding Towards Success: The Inspiring Journey of Dr. Zac Cartun and Gregory Gerla | https://www.insead.edu/alumni/stories/striding-towards-success-inspiring-journey-dr-zac-cartun-and-gregory-gerla
- [Brookline.News, January 2025] A Brookline doctor tries to update podiatry for the 21st century | https://brookline.news/a-brookline-doctor-tries-to-update-podiatry-for-the-21st-century/
- [yourerie.com, July 2025] Process description | https://www.yourerie.com
- [Stride Soles, retrieved 2026] About Stride Soles and manufacturing claims | https://stridesoles.com/about/
- [The Garage SF newsletter, May 2025] See What’s Happening @The Garage SF | https://tgsf.substack.com/p/see-whats-happening-the-garage-sf-620
- [Caplight, November 2023] Funding round data | https://www.caplight.com
- [PR Newswire, July 2025] Stride Soles Disrupts $6.7 Billion Orthotics Market | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stride-soles-disrupts-6-7-billion-orthotics-market-with-direct-to-consumer-tech-enabled-custom-insoles-302510747.html
- [INSEAD, retrieved 2026] Zachary Cartun MBA’23D bio | https://www.insead.edu/bio/zachary-cartun-mba23d