[2025 Kwangwoon University Industry-Academic Collaboration Foundation Startups CEO] ‘KICKS GROUND,’ a shoe-making platform that allows anyone to easily and quickly create their own shoes

Jeongbin Park, CEO of KICKS GROUND (Incubation company at Gangbuk Youth Startup Maru)

Developed a technology-driven shoe-making solution based on AI and 3D technology
Providing customers with an extensive design database that allows them to choose their preferred designs

KICKS GROUND is a fashion-tech company building a platform that lowers the barriers to shoe-making, enabling anyone to easily and quickly create their own shoes. It was founded in June 2025 by CEO Jeongbin Park (53).

Its flagship item is the shoe-making platform ‘KICKS GROUND.’ It is a platform that provides customers with an extensive design database, allowing them to choose their preferred designs and easily and quickly create their own shoes.

KICKS GROUND primarily operates in the B2B market and is structured to expand into the B2C sector in the future. KICKS GROUND’s roadmap is to establish a foundation for unlimited growth by adding the values of an open designer platform and customization.

“KICKS GROUND is like a ‘Subway’ model of the footwear industry. Just like ordering a sandwich, you simply choose a design, check the sample, and place your order, and that’s it. KICKS GROUND provides a solution that enables anyone who has faced challenges in the footwear business due to high entry barriers (shoe brand founders, influencers, creators, small and medium-sized brands, etc.) to easily and quickly create shoes.”

KICKS GROUND is more than just an ordering platform. It is a technology-driven shoe-making solution based on AI and 3D technology. The company is building an extensive design database using AI and, going beyond traditional 2D designs, provides customers with 3D models to maximize pre-experience. This is expected to significantly increase customer satisfaction.

“The core of KICKS GROUND’s competitiveness lies in its ‘easy and fast’ shoe-making process. In general, the initial design process alone takes about two to three months when producing shoes. Since KICKS GROUND provides an extensive shoe design database, customers can easily choose a design and immediately begin the shoe-making process. In other words, easy and fast shoe-making is possible.”

To build a diverse and extensive design database, KICKS GROUND is developing AI-powered shoe designs. By utilizing AI in this way, the company can build a vast design database in a short period of time while simultaneously reflecting the latest trends in real time.

KICKS GROUND converts 2D images into 3D models and provides them to customers for an experience with the actual shape of the product in advance. CEO Park said, “Through these 3D models, customer satisfaction is expected to be significantly higher compared to conventional 2D-based designs,” adding, “We are currently controlling detailed aspects of AI utilization through prompt-based commands and are researching ways to automate this process.”

“KICKS GROUND’s ultimate goal is to achieve precise control and automation through APIs and to develop its own AI fine-tuning model specialized for footwear.”

Park plans to utilize influencer marketing agencies to secure initial sales channels. He plans to gradually create success stories through collaborations with brands, influencers, and creators, and to operate KICKS GROUND’s own social media channels to share the brand’s story with a wider audience.

What led CEO Park to start the business? “When I was in charge of the footwear business at my previous company, I personally experienced the complexity of the shoe industry and its high entry barriers. However, I realized that if these entry barriers could be lowered even slightly, it would be possible to create a new standard for the industry. I have worked in many fields, from resource development to online fashion and overseas real estate, but I remember feeling the greatest joy when working in fashion and footwear. I have always been curious about new technologies. While witnessing the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, I began to wonder what kind of innovation could be achieved by applying AI to shoe-making, which ultimately led me to establish KICKS GROUND.”

After founding the company, the CEO said, “When we were selected for the Pre-Startup Package, moved into the startup center, and established a corporation, I felt a sense of fulfillment, realizing that ‘I could truly make something happen.’”

“Above all, the very process of thinking about and immersing myself in KICKS GROUND 24 hours a day has become my greatest source of fulfillment and motivation.”

Regarding future goals, Park said, “In the short term, our goal is to launch the platform officially and secure initial customers,” adding, “In the mid to long term, we aim to establish an AI-based standard for shoe design generation and grow into a competitive fashion-tech platform in the global market through collaborations with global brands.”

Date of Establishment: June 2025
Main Business: Operation of a shoe-making platform
Achievements: Selected for the 2025 Pre-Startup Package, incubation at Gangbuk Startup Support Center

reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com