SafeSize exapands its operations to Australia & New Zealand and is about to close a new funding round.
SafeSize international operations
SafeSize, is currently expanding its operations to Australia and New Zealand while planning next its expansion to the US. At the same time, SafeSize is about to successfully close a funding round that is expected to be announced by the end of February and will be securing the largest funding until today (note that the last round was in 2018-2019 and secured funds of 10 million euros).
The Greek startup, founded by Angelos Stavrakis, is using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, to create the exact digital 3D foot profile and recommend the right shoe model and size to consumers, helping them find the perfect fitting shoes either instore or online.
With offices in 4 countries and 9 shoe scanning facilities around the globe, SafeSize has matched more than 20 million consumers in 50 countries with perfect fitting shoes. SafeSize’s 3D foot scanners are available in the largest footwear retailers’ stores. Some of SafeSize’s clients include INTERSPORT, Decathlon, SportsDirect, Xebio, HOKA, New Balance, Skechers, Marks & Spencer.
We started from a room in The Netherlands
SafeSize offers the most advanced and complete solution for 3D foot scanning and shoe recommendation, supported by Artificial Intelligence and machine learning algorithms. By matching the 3D foot data with the world’s largest database of 3D shoe data, SafeSize can recommend the perfect fitting shoes for the specific consumer’s feet, personal preferences, and preferred activities.
He described the challenges that all startups are facing when starting their journey:
“We started from a small room in The Netherlands. With two salespeople and no marketing team. Two years ago, we created our Innovation & Development Hub in Athens, where our Research & Development teams are based in. We now have 4 offices in The Netherlands, China, Slovenia and Greece. We are a team of 60 people from 18 nationalities, 40% of which are women, and we expect to be 100 in the next few months.
A 450 billion euros market
The global footwear market, estimated over 450 billion euros, is facing a big challenge: what is the correct shoe size? This is an important topic as the wrong shoe size translates to lost sales, frustrated customers and increased cost caused by the unnecessary returns. SafeSize has managed to solve this problem, partner with iconic international footwear brands and retailers and secure funds from investors including Convent Capital –Netherlands and 3TS Capital Partners.
Entrepreneurial mentality
SafeSize was created to offer a retail technology solution to the global challenge mentioned above (what is the correct shoe size?). A challenge that Angelos Stavrakis, SafeSize’s Founder & CEO, had faced during his years working at INTERSPORT. With deep knowledge of the retail business as well as business management, having been a business consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in Milan, and with the appropriate educational background as a graduate in Business Research & Marketing and an MBA (Bocconi & Kellogg School of Management), he made a bet and he seems to be winning it.
SafeSize has created an omnichannel solution. For the physical stores, SafeSize offers a 3D Foot Scanner that can scan consumers’ feet in less than 5 seconds and create a digital foot profile with accuracy to the millimeter. For online shops, it offers a mobile scanning app that allows the consumers to easily scan their feet at home, using their mobile phone.
Using the 3D foot profile, SafeSize’s patented AI-powered technology virtually tries on the customer’s feet all shoes available in the store. Different types of shoe brands and models are included in the shoe recommendation list, from running shoes to pumps and sandals. The proprietary software recommends shoes that fit the customers’ feet and personal preferences. The personalized 3D foot profile can be saved, and the customer can use it in the future to shop either instore or online.
Kids shoes – the solution to a complex problem
The company also provides solution to another even more complex problem – what is the correct shoe size for kids?
“Approximately 70% of kids between the age of 3 and 10 are wearing the wrong shoes for months, resulting to development/feet anatomy problems”, he mentioned during his speech.
For children of this age, SafeSize has developed a unique growth predictor algorithm, which suggests the right shoe for the correct development of the foot. It also provides growth prediction of the foot and notifies the parent of the time to replace the shoes.
You can read the original article in Greek HERE
Journalist: Natassa Fragouli
