For Hong Kong start-up Digitoe, healthy feet are the first step towards a healthy life.
Unresolved foot pain can limit flexibility and mobility, leading to serious health complications in the long run.
To help avoid this, the team at Digitoe are developing smart insoles that can gather data on posture and walking styles.
A web app compares this data with medically validated information from hospitals and researchers. The app then analyses the results to suggest exercise plans and lifestyle changes for better foot health.
The healthtech start-up was founded by university students Raissa Yeung and Cecilia Leung in 2024, after being incubated within the University of Hong Kong.
After initially focusing on children with flat feet or high arches, the company is expanding its offering to adults suffering from foot pain, such as plantar fasciitis.
The long-term goal is to cater to all ages and lifestyles, from early childhood screenings and school programmes to advanced analytics for office workers, athletes and seniors worldwide.
“Our product grows with you, bringing lifelong mobility with genuine, actionable insights,” remarks Ms Yeung, Digitoe’s CEO.
The team are currently setting up a pilot to explore the ideal balance between strong performance and cost-effectiveness for its high-tech insoles, which are branded iWalk.
This will inform the design of a minimum viable product, or MVP, paving the way for commercial launch in the future.
Early rollout will target affluent Asian markets, including Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland as well as Japan, Korea and Singapore.
Access and mentorship
Digitoe’s promise and commercial potential was recognised as one of the winners of Start-up Express, a business development programme run by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).
Start-Up Express first appeared on the radar in 2024, after the foot health specialist joined an HKU-hosted booth during Entrepreneur Day (E-Day), HKTDC’s anchor start-up event.
The tech venture returned to E-Day in 2025 as a Start-up Express winner to showcase iWalk’s latest features, while connecting with potential partners and customers.
Start-up Express provides exposure, access and invaluable mentorship, Ms Yeung highlights.
“These resources help us strengthen our technology, refine our go-to-market strategy and connect with investors and stakeholders across Asia,” she explains.
Digitoe has also received numerous plaudits. It was crowned champion in Samsung’s annual Solve For Tomorrow programme and won a gold in an innovation competition run by CLP, one of Hong Kong’s main electricity companies, to name but two.
Hong Kong has played a pivotal role in its journey, providing a unique platform where world-class universities and advanced medical centres support credible research and clinical collaboration.
At the same time, connectivity to tech ecosystems within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area enabled the start-up to prototype its hardware rapidly and economically.
Hong Kong’s younger generation values health, wellness and data-driven solutions, while showing readiness and enthusiasm to adopt and even drive new technologies, Ms Yeung emphasises.
“These elements – academic excellence, manufacturing access and a tech-savvy, health-conscious population – make Hong Kong an ideal environment for building innovative, impactful solutions.”