QLVR began as a lockdown idea. We wanted to blend the convenience of a slip-on with the performance technology of a running shoe. It soon became what we called The World’s First Running Slipper. The idea was simple. But turning that vision into a funded business took persistence, strategy, and a willingness to learn quickly. With 30 years of experience in the footwear industry, we knew that to disrupt the highly competitive sports shoe market, a successful new product would need to be distinctive, radically different, and meet un-met
customer needs. Nobody talks about IP After designing and testing our prototype, we first turned our attention to protecting it. My advice to other entrepreneurs:
don’t cut corners on protecting intellectual property for your innovation. We invested in international patents,
trademarks, and design registrations for our WingFit lace-replacement technology. The patent journey took four years. While we waited, we refined our technology. We made a deliberate choice to build our technology exclusively for women, an opportunity historically neglected by the sports footwear industry. While most brands simply shrink men’s models, QLVR would be engineered around female biomechanics: higher arches, wider toe boxes and narrower heels. Every time someone tried the prototype, they said the same thing: “That’s clever”, and so the brand got its name ‘QLVR’. From prototype to production Up to this point, we had bootstrapped the business, but the next step of opening factory tooling and scaling to production required significant capital.
Crowdfunding wasn’t on our radar at first, but Kickstarter offered three key opportunities:
- Funding our first production run
- Market testing with real consumer insights
- First-to-market positioning for our innovation
Our campaign raised £100,071 from 707 backers across 38 countries in just 30 days. It may have looked seamless from the outside, but the reality was a steep learning curve. Kickstarter is crowded with innovators competing for attention. While the platform has an active backer community, getting noticed isn’t easy. You need a polished proposition, effectively a mini-website and relentless marketing to grow awareness. The Kickstarter algorithm plays a big role. To gain traction, you need strong early momentum, which means building your own pre-launch audience. We invested heavily in
advertising on Facebook and
Instagram. Through videos, graphics, and testing different messages, we created a community of women excited to be first in line for our Running Slippers. That groundwork paid off. On launch day, our database drove an immediate spike in pledges, pushing us to trend on Kickstarter and drawing hundreds of new backers. We learned that crowdfunding success depends less on what happens during the 30 days, and more on the preparation that comes beforehand. Navigating platform challenges Kickstarter comes with quirks that many first-time campaigners overlook. For one,
backers must wait months for innovations to go into production before they ship, which can create scepticism.
Payment is credit-card only, leading some to suspect scams and pre-sales lists inevitably drop when launch day arrives. Then there’s the funding target dilemma. Kickstarter’s algorithm supports campaigns that hit their target on day one, but
realistic production goals are often too high to achieve in one day. Our solution was to set an achievable public target which we could smash on launch day while setting a separate internal target for full funding. Most backer activity happens on the first and last days, leaving a tense middle stretch where momentum can stall. We treated our backers as partners, engaging daily, answering questions, and sharing updates to maintain trust and momentum. Our backers became the foundation of QLVR’s community. Many remain loyal customers,
repeat purchasers, and even brand ambassadors helping us spread the word. By responding personally, providing frequent updates, and treating backers as long-term customers, we turned their support into lasting relationships.
It’s not the right choice for every founder. But for us, it gave us validation that our idea had global demand, and community building with early adopters – both of which gave us the momentum to build on our next growth phase.
By Nicolle Dean Nicolle Dean is co-founder of QLVR, the world’s first Running Slipper designed exclusively for women.
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