DO YOU STILL USE CLOGS?
Let’s continue to shake up the paradigms
Why did we launch the Zufo project?
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– Ski shoes hurt
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– Ski shoes are not comfortable
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– Ski shoes are not practical for walking
Ski boot development pretty much remained stuck in the 1970s, based on hard plastic shell technology with hooks. A design that has not found an answer to the problem of ski boot comfort.
It was time to think differently and shake up a 50-year-old paradigm: performance and comfort are not contradictory.
Innovate again but differently
Ski boots have also undergone developments. It has gone from the soft leather ankle boot without support, therefore offering little control of movement, to the plastic shells that we know today. However, this innovation dates from the 1970s, and since then, the design has changed little. This is evidenced by the number of patents filed each year, which is in sharp decline. The ski equipment industry saw its last true revolution in the 1990s with the introduction of parabolic skis, which offered a level of control never before achieved.
Today, in addition to the quest for comfort and performance, there is the desire to make the ski industry more sustainable and virtuous, both in practice and in the manufacturing of equipment. Innovation must therefore rhyme with eco-design, an essential point in the specifications that we have set for ourselves at zUFO.
The challenge was therefore significant: finding a solution to an unresolved problem using a new approach and proposing this solution in line with the environmental and social issues of our time.
Our Vision
As parabolic skis did with straight skis, we believe that exoskeletons will replace rigid shells ski boots. Thanks to its patented technology, zUFO will be a key player in the next ski boots market replacement.
2020
The ZUFO concept was born, and the first patents were filed.
2021
The first prototypes are produced to test the concept on the tracks. The demonstrator validates a large part of the characteristics expected for ski boots. Iterations can begin based on these first prototypes. The specifications are clear: maximize comfort without sacrificing performance.
ZUFO integrates a SportTech-oriented incubator supported by UNITEC.
2021
ZUFO integrates a SportTech-oriented incubator supported by UNITEC.
2022
zUFO is the winner of the PERFECTO call for projects from the French Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME) thanks to its modular design. An innovative approach which reduces the ecological impact of the product. ZUFO ski boots are in fact repairable and more easily recyclable thanks to mono-material modules, thus increasing their lifespan and, in turn, offering customization possibilities for skiers.
2023
Carrying out the first beta tests, which are an opportunity to obtain initial feedback from users on the reinvented ski boots.
ZUFO’s eco-design is once again awarded and recognized, this time in the United States: zUFO receives the Sustainable Innovation Award at the CES in Las Vegas.
ZUFO joins the OSV Start-Up incubator in Annecy.
2023
ZUFO’s eco-design is once again awarded and recognized, this time in the United States: zUFO receives the Sustainable Innovation Award at the CES in Las Vegas.
ZUFO joins the OSV Start-Up incubator in Annecy.
The goal is to see you hit the slopes next winter with your first COMFORTABLE AND PERFORMING ski boots.
Our ambition?
PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE COMFORT TO MORE THAN 135 MILLION SKIERS.
Conviction & humility
It is with unwavering conviction that we are breaking new ground. If we challenge 50-year-old paradigms (a ski boot “must” have rigid shells and hooks), we do so with complete humility by accepting to be wrong and correcting our mistakes every day.
RATIONALITY & SIMPLICITY
Our approach is clearly scientific and rational. We started from a blank sheet and the results obtained stem from a rigorous functional analysis. A positive signal of success is simplicity. We provide simple solutions to a complex problem: “Simple is beautiful”.
Plaisir & respect
More than an objective, respect for the environment is obvious to us that we take into account in all aspects of the project. What may appear to be a constraint is also a challenge that allows us to go further in reasoning and therefore in innovation. It will be a pleasure and pride for us to achieve the expected results: a ski boot improving both environmental performance and the comfort of skiers.
A project team dedicated to ski boots innovation
We have created a project team with complementary skills, in particular: Engineering, Design, Eco-conception.
A communication agency supports us and eventually a commercial team will be created.
We are also supported by a dynamic entrepreneurial eco-system: Our incubators Unitec and Sportech supported by the New Aquitaine region, the FrenchTech and BPI startup support organizations, entrepreneurial networks CLENAM, Initiatives Grandes Ecoles et Universités and Réseau Entreprendre and are part of the professional organizations OSV / EuroSIMA (Outdoor Sports Valley) and USC (Union Sport et Cycle).
OUR SUPPORTS
CONTACT US
You have questions?
Want to know more and discuss collaboration opportunities?
Message us!
We are often looking for new talents,
do you have skills to put to use in the reinvented ski boot?
Don’t hesitate send us a free application to jobs@zufo.ski.