• About

  • The Footwear LaunchPad Program: Why It’s Needed and Different

    LaunchPad is the footwear industry's bridge to innovations from outside footwear. Through FIF, the program partners footwear industry executives with Liminal Group, a venture studio, whose experts help start-ups succeed, to identify new talent from non-traditional channels and to discover innovations not considered in day-to-day operations.

    “Footwear has gotten so focused on today’s problems that it has stopped looking outside for answers. FIF's Footwear LaunchPad gives outside talent and ideas a way into our industry. In its second year, the program goes beyond finding concepts – it helps build them into something the industry can use,”

    ~ Andy Gilbert, Chairman, Footwear Innovation Foundation.

    LaunchPad is an open call to anyone with an idea that could change footwear. Entries can range from a sketch on a napkin to a patented technology. Applicants submit a 5-page brief on their background, the problem they are solving, the market opportunity, and where their

    solution would fit in the footwear value chain.

    During LaunchPad’s 8-week Elevation Lab, technology, supply chain, and business experts from Liminal Group helped each Elite 8 team pressure-test and refine its concept. FIF’s LaunchPad team then paired the finalists with mentors and industry leaders for early-look

    sessions before the concepts were presented publicly.

    “Selecting promising ideas is only the beginning. Innovators need support to develop them, and busy industry teams need more than a raw concept to assess an opportunity. Our partnership with FIF brings together venture-development experts and footwear industry leaders to close that gap. Through the Elevation Lab, we help innovators clarify the problem they solve, challenge assumptions, strengthen their concepts and define a path forward. That gives both innovators and industry partners a stronger foundation for meaningful conversations about development, pilots and commercial partnerships.”

    ~Michael Seeley, Founder and Managing Partner, Liminal Group

    Meet the experts and industry leaders helping power this program.

  • This year, we recieved 150 applications from around the world. See the 2026 Top Innovations!

  • foowear innovation foundation launchpad instagram feed

  • How Footwear LaunchPad Works

    The process

    1

    Global Call for Ideas

    • Open application period of 6 weeks.
    • No cost to apply.
    • Not looking for new trend/designs, rather problem-solving and innovation.
    • Open to students, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, industry pros, and industry outsiders.
    • Applicants submit a 4-page PDF covering the idea, market fit, approach, and potential impact.
    2

    Evaluation of Applications, Elite 8 Selected

    • LaunchPad Team spends weeks reviewing all submissions and filtering.
    • LaunchPad Team goes deep into each entry.
    • Ideas recognized by the LaunchPad Team as innovative and actionable will not be left behind – see next step
    • As we narrow the list of top innovators, we will schedule video interviews with those we feel have the most potential and who are willing and able to put in the time and effort to move their idea forward.
    • LaunchPad Team chooses the Elite 8 to enter the next stage of our program, based on:
      • Problem they solve
      • Opportunity created
      • Scalability
      • The innovator's vision, talent, coachability and avilability
    3

    Innovators evaluated for industry engagement

    • LaunchPad Team works to ensure no talent or concept is left on the table.
    • Each innovator outside the Elite 8 with an idea recognized by the LaunchPad Team as innovative and actionable may be placed with an industry expert or professional to provide some form of consultation.
    • There is no guarantee of engagment, it depends on the idea and person behind it.
    4

    Elite 8 Enter The Elevation Lab and Development Program

    • Top 8 innovators (the Elite 8) go through an immersive 8-week virtual program to help them refine and build their ideas.
    • LaunchPad training and development support including direct consulting, education, mentoring, and building up is worth $250,000+ per innovator.
    • Each week, participants join 1.5 hr expert briefings on:
      • Finance
      • Business planning
      • Footwear marketplace
      • Supply chain
      • Technology
      • Prototyping and commercialization
      • Potential guidance for filing for provisional patents as needed
    • Several weekly 1-on-1 sessions between innovators and selected technical experts helping close gaps or addressing challenges needing solutions.
    • Each participant leaves with:
      • Their idea fleshed out
      • A clear pitch deck
      • A prototyping and deployment plan
      • Investment/support asks
    5

    Elite 8 Elevation Event

    First public look at Elite 8 ideas and innovators:

    6

    Post Competiton Support

    After the Elite 8 Elevation Event, participants can choose to continue to engage with the Footwear Innovation Foundation and Liminal Group to build their ideas into a reality. We want to provide clear pathways to real commercaliztion in a way no one else can.

  • 2026 Footwear LAUNCHPAD

    Congratulations to the Elite 8 and Top 3!

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