What HILOS does

HILOS (legal entity: Hilos, Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in Portland, Oregon) is a footwear design technology company founded in 2019. The company builds an AI-powered Product Operating System that spans the footwear design workflow from generative concepting through production. Its core products are the OS platform, the Studio OS generative design module, and the INTERPLAY™ private beta. Studio OS uses AI models trained specifically on 3D footwear and accepts multimodal inputs — text prompts, sketches, or mood boards — to produce 3D CAD models ready for 3D printing. The platform is presented as CAD-free, removing the need for traditional specialized design tooling, and the company states its models are trained on its own proprietary data and failures rather than customer IP.

The company's stated value proposition is a roughly 90-day concept-to-market cycle and up to 95% manufacturing waste reduction through on-demand, local 3D-printed production. HILOS targets two primary customer segments: enterprise footwear and fashion brands (named logos include Alexander Wang, Under Armour, Ralph Lauren, and Steve Madden) and independent footwear designers and small studios (e.g., Unknown Union, Ancuta Sarca, Untitlab). The go-to-market is product-led, combining a self-serve waitlist and private beta (INTERPLAY) with event-driven visibility (Milan Design Week, Art Basel Miami) and earned media coverage. Revenue mechanics are a SaaS subscription model for design teams, though the company has not publicly disclosed pricing tiers.

HILOS has raised approximately $3–7 million in venture funding (conflicting source data: a $3M seed in March 2023 led by former Nike executives Eric Sprunk and Greg Bui per company announcements, versus an alternate funding-rounds table indicating a $5M round on the same date alongside earlier Techstars-backed rounds totaling ~$2.1M). The company is also the anchor tenant of the $125M "Made in Old Town" urban redevelopment in Portland — a separate initiative backed by ex-Nike and ex-Adidas executives targeting 6,000 jobs by 2028. The company has 11–50 employees and is led by founders Elias Stahl (CEO) and Gaia Giladi (CCO).

Name

HILOS

Legal name

Hilos, Inc.

Website

https://hilos.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

HILOS builds an AI-powered Product Operating System for footwear design, enabling brands and independent designers to convert text prompts, sketches, or mood boards into 3D-printed footwear with a claimed 90-day concept-to-market cycle. Customers include Under Armour, Ralph Lauren, Steve Madden, and Alexander Wang.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Platform Subscription: HILOS OS is a Product Operating System for footwear design provided as a SaaS platform to designers and footwear brands. Commercial subscription model with user accounts for design teams.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HILOS provides a Product Operating System (OS) for footwear design that spans generative concepting through production. The platform combines AI-powered generative design software (Studio OS) with 3D printing capabilities, allowing footwear brands and independent designers to create, prototype, and manufacture shoes without traditional inventory or end-of-life waste. The CAD-free design environment converts text prompts, sketches, or mood boards into detailed 3D CAD models ready for manufacturing.

Product overview

HILOS offers a unified footwear design operating system with two core components: OS (the main Product Operating System for footwear design spanning generative concepting through production) and Studio OS (the AI-powered generative design module that converts text prompts, sketches, or mood boards into 3D CAD models). The platform is CAD-free, built for designers with no gatekeepers, and incorporates machine learning tools trained specifically on footwear. INTERPLAY™ serves as the beta access platform for designers to test and shape the OS. Together, these products form a comprehensive workflow enabling designers to move from concept to market-ready footwear within 90 days.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OS (Human Innovation Lab Operating System) HILOS OS is a Product Operating System for footwear design that spans from generative concepting through production. It enables designers and footwear brand teams to design and print footwear concepts in a CAD-free environment, providing advanced design systems built by footwear innovation experts and machine learning tools trained specifically on footwear.
• Studio OS Studio OS is generative design software leveraging AI models trained specifically on 3D footwear. It enables designers to convert text prompts, sketches, or mood boards into detailed 3D CAD models ready for manufacturing, with the ability to launch wearable shoes within 90 days from concept to market.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces manufacturing waste by up to 95%
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Technology Association of OregoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 September 2024Partnered with Technology Association of Oregon for the $125 million Made in Old Town urban redevelopment project to transform Portland into a domestic footwear manufacturing hub.
• Made in Old Town Project PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 September 2024$125 million development project backed by former Nike and Adidas executives aiming to create 6,000 jobs by 2028. HILOS serves as anchor tenant in 110,000 sq ft Footwear & Apparel Manufacturing Innovation hub.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Carbon: Carbon produces digital manufacturing platforms and 3D-printed elastomeric materials used for footwear midsoles and uppers (notably its Adidas Futurecraft partnership). It is directly comparable to HILOS because it sits at the same intersection of 3D-printed footwear production and design software for brand design teams.
• Materialise: Materialise offers industrial 3D printing software (Magics, Streamics) and on-demand manufacturing services across industries including wearables. It competes with HILOS in providing both the generative-design tooling and the manufacturing capacity brands need to launch digitally produced footwear.
• Browzwear: Browzwear provides 3D fashion design software (VStitcher, Lotta, Stylezone) widely adopted by apparel and footwear brands. It overlaps HILOS in CAD-free 3D authoring for footwear but lacks the generative-AI-from-prompt and on-demand 3D-print manufacturing workflow that HILOS bundles.
• Centric Software: Centric Software delivers PLM and product design platforms purpose-built for fashion and footwear brands. It competes with HILOS for the same enterprise footwear brand design teams as the system of record for product creation, though HILOS's generative AI and on-demand print are differentiated.
• Gerber Technology: Gerber Technology (now part of Lectra) provides CAD/CAM, digital cutting, and PLM solutions for apparel and footwear manufacturers. It competes with HILOS for enterprise footwear brand design and production workflows, especially in pattern-making and 3D prototyping.

Emerging players

• Style3D: Style3D (formerly Linctex) provides AI-driven 3D garment and footwear design and simulation tools to global apparel brands. It overlaps with HILOS's generative-design value prop for footwear and is rapidly internationalizing into the same indie-designer and enterprise-brand segments.
• Stratasys: Stratasys manufactures industrial 3D printers and offers design-to-print software used in fashion and footwear applications. It is comparable to HILOS on the manufacturing/printing side, though it sells hardware and material rather than a footwear-specific generative design OS.

Broad incumbents

• Dassault Systèmes: Dassault Systèmes' CATIA and SOLIDWORKS are entrenched 3D design platforms used across fashion, footwear, and industrial design. It competes broadly with HILOS in 3D authoring for footwear but does not specialize in generative-AI-driven footwear concepts or on-demand print.
• Autodesk: Autodesk's Fusion 360 and generative-design tools are used widely in product and industrial design, including footwear prototyping. It is comparable to HILOS as a 3D design platform but lacks footwear-specific generative AI models and bundled 3D-print manufacturing.
• Adobe: Adobe's Substance 3D suite and Firefly generative AI are increasingly used by footwear and apparel designers for 3D material authoring and concept generation. It is comparable to HILOS as a creative-design platform with generative AI, though it is not footwear-specialized and does not include on-demand manufacturing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors10 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HILOS