Senior Sales Manager - Account Management

Hike Medical raises $22.5M to expand vertically integrated orthotics platform. Hike Medical, a San Francisco-based medical device company combining clinical software with in-house manufacturing, has raised $22.5 million in seed and Series A funding to expand its vertically integrated orthotics and durable medical equipment platform. The round was led by Max Altman at Saga Ventures, with participation from Indicator Ventures, Fifth Down Capital, RiverPark Ventures and Orthofeet. Monaco CEO Sam Blond and former New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo also participated as angel investors. Hike plans to use the funding to hire across engineering, sales and manufacturing as it expands beyond custom insoles into additional durable medical equipment (DME) categories. The company currently operates an orthotic 3D printing facility in Peoria, Illinois, which it describes as the largest orthotic 3D print farm in the US. Its system is intended to connect referral processing, insurance authorization, clinical evaluation and device production through three components. Hike Intelligence uses AI agents to process referrals and insurance approvals before a patient reaches the clinician. Hike Clinical allows clinicians to scan, document and order devices through a single point-of-care workflow, while Hike Lab handles in-house manufacturing. According to the company, a scan captured using a mobile device can provide the data required to manufacture a custom insole, replacing workflows based on foam impression boxes and standalone LiDAR scanners. Hike says its manufacturing process has reduced turnaround for custom insoles from several weeks to days. The company currently reports a production turnaround of around five business days. It also claims to have reduced remake rates from approximately one in 15 devices to one in 400. Hike has not disclosed the specific additive manufacturing process, printer models or materials used at SoleForge. The company says its 65,000 sq. ft. Peoria facility operates more than 600 3D printers around the clock. When announcing the site in 2025, Hike said it was targeting an annual capacity of more than 500,000 pairs of custom insoles. Connecting the clinical and manufacturing workflow Hike was co-founded by CEO Aadi Bhanti, whose family has worked in orthotics and prosthetics for three generations. Initially focused on digitizing the production of custom foot orthotics using mobile scanning and 3D printing, the company is now seeking to address other stages before and after manufacturing. Hike argues that administrative requirements surrounding referrals, insurance approval and device ordering create delays that cannot be solved through faster manufacturing alone. "Patients shouldn't have to wait weeks for a device because the systems behind their care don't talk to each other," said Bhanti. "We've proven this model in custom foot orthotics, making the process faster, more accurate and built around the patient instead of the paperwork. Now we're taking it across the rest of device-based care." Hike cites diabetic inserts, braces, prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and cranial helmets among the wider DME categories it ultimately intends to address. The company estimates that Americans spend approximately $100 billion each year on durable medical equipment and related devices. Hike also cites its own research estimating that 60 cents of every dollar spent in the sector is lost through waste, remakes and fraud. The new funding is intended to support expansion of the platform into this broader market. Hike also recently appointed Jerry Tang as chief operating officer. Tang previously served as SVP of Global Operations at logistics company Flexport before becoming COO at digital dental lab Dandy. "The next generation of category-defining companies won't just build software on top of broken industries. They'll own the entire value chain, end to end, like Hike does," said Max Altman, co-founder and managing partner at Saga Ventures. Scaling 3D printed orthotics beyond production speed Recent developments in 3D printed orthotics have increasingly compressed the time required between scanning and manufacturing. In 2025, PioCreat introduced an integrated system combining foot scanning, gait analysis and multi-material FDM 3D printing, with its IPX2 3D printer producing a pair of adult insoles in around 35 minutes. While PioCreat's point-of-care model targets a different deployment context than centralized farms like Hike's, it illustrates how rapidly the underlying technology is maturing across the orthotics space. Scalability introduces additional constraints as production moves to higher volumes. EOS has argued that barriers to consistent and economically viable 3D printed orthotics and prosthetics production are increasingly operational rather than technical, citing throughput, labor, qualification documentation and post-processing among the factors shaping deployment. Its analysis also suggests that centralized production can remain preferable for some orthotic applications where the overhead of point-of-care manufacturing outweighs lead-time gains. 3D Printing Industry is inviting speakers for its 2026 Additive Manufacturing Applications (AMA) series, covering Energy, Healthcare, Automotive and Mobility, Aerospace, Space and Defense, and Software. Each online event focuses on real production deployments, qualification, and supply chain integration. Practitioners interested in contributing can complete the call for speakers form here. Explore the full Future of 3D Printing and Executive Survey series from 3D Printing Industry, featuring perspectives from CEOs, engineers, and industry leaders on the industrialization of additive manufacturing, 3D printing industry trends 2026, qualification, supply chains, and additive manufacturing industry analysis. Feature image shows Hike Medical logo. Image via Hike Medical.

Flexport expands into the UK and Canada. Freight forwarder Flexport has expanded its fulfilment network outside of the USA, launching services from facilities in Manchester, UK and Mississauga, Canada. The expansion allows customers to hold inventory and fulfil orders domestically in the two markets while using Flexport for international freight, customs clearance and delivery. In the UK, Flexport will operate from two partner-run facilities in Manchester, both equipped with AutoStore automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), which use robots to retrieve inventory from high-density storage grids. The Canadian facility is located in Mississauga, near Toronto Pearson International Airport, and holds Health Canada certifications covering medical products, supplements and consumer goods. Inbound receiving began in July, with the first outbound orders due to ship in September. Flexport said its international expansion is aimed at brands already selling into Canada and the UK but serving customers from warehouses in other countries. Orders and returns can now be handled domestically in each market. The company added that it plans to expand its fulfilment network into continental Europe in 2027, where it already provides freight and customs services. Caroline joined Akabo Media as editor of Logistics Manager in October 2025. She has more than a decade of experience working in digital and print publishing across multiple sectors, including energy, pharmaceuticals and mining. 3rd September 2026

Flexport has launched its first fulfilment operations outside the US, expanding into Canada and the UK. The San Francisco-based logistics provider announced on Tuesday that services are now available in Mississauga, Ontario, and Manchester, England. The Canadian fulfilment centre near Toronto Pearson International Airport has Health Canada certifications for medical products and supplements. Inbound receiving began in July, with first outbound orders scheduled for September. In the UK, Flexport operates through two partner-run facilities in Manchester using AutoStore automated storage systems. The technology allows the same volume of goods to be stored in one-quarter of the floor space required by traditional warehouses. Flexport plans to add fulfilment operations in continental Europe in 2027.