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Virginia shoe company accelerates growth with $900K national and regional funding
Regional innovator’s expansion initiatives rooted in industry-first, science-backed, sustainable design
Charlottesville, VA, September 25, 2019 —(PR.com)—Today OESH Shoes announces a total of $900,000 in funding awarded by national and regional grant sources that will significantly accelerate growth and expansion for the Virginia footwear brand.
Previously awarded $850,000 in grant funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Charlottesville company founded in 2011 has received a matching $50,000 funding award from the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF), whose mission serves and supports innovation and economic growth in Virginia by advancing solutions to important state, national, and international problems through technology research, development and commercialization.
Founded by Dr. Casey Kerrigan, Harvard M.D. and the first tenured professor and chair of the University of Virginia Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, OESH Shoes is using the funds to further its healthy-by-design footwear. Manufactured using innovative and cutting-edge processes, the company produces shoes built from the ground up on the principles of peer-reviewed medical science first pioneered by Kerrigan. This includes the first-run production of the all-new Townie flat, the only sustainably-made, 3D printed and 3D knitted women’s dress flat. The Townie features the signature, springy OESH sole that helps to minimize impact on the joints and build core foot strength promoting long-term, total body health and wellness. The soles are 100 percent recyclable.
“The Townie is truly the result of decades of research,” said Dr. Kerrigan. “We’re excited to bring our OESHers a new style made entirely in Virginia that accurately captures human movement research and the actual shape of a woman’s foot in a beautiful, functional flat that also incorporates sustainable manufacturing practices.”
Dr. Kerrigan was the first to discover a link between osteoarthritis and high-heels back in 1998 and left her tenured professor and chair position at the University of Virginia to re-design women’s footwear. The design and springy sole of the OESH Townie couldn’t have been made without the specialized 3D printing process supported by the CRCF and the National Science Foundation.
For more information about the Townie by OESH, visit the Campaign page at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/3d-printed-flats-by-oesh
ABOUT OESH SHOES
Founded by D. Casey Kerrigan, MD, whose published medical research first illuminated many of the ill-effects of current footwear, OESH Shoes was born to change the footwear paradigm to healthy design. Each pair of OESH shoes are designed from the inside out, to minimize the stress and strain that typical footwear inflicts on a woman’s muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints, with the realized goal of attractive footwear that provide long-term health and total body wellness. For more information about OESH, visit their website at www.OESHshoes.com
