Our Story

Groov founder Dan Cataldi grew up with a father who sold orthotics — and wanted nothing to do with them.

A Division I athlete, Dan cared about sneakers, performance, and staying on the cutting edge. Orthotics felt like archaic medical devices. The posters on his wall were of Dr. J, not Dr. Scholl’s.

Eventually, his dad made him a pair. He hated them. They didn’t fit his shoes, they weren’t comfortable, and for a while, that was enough proof that orthotics just weren’t for him.

Years later, desperate enough to try anything, Dan saw a specialist connected to a local pro sports team who made him a completely different pair of custom insoles.

This time, something clicked. His feet felt lighter. A quiet discomfort he’d lived with for years was suddenly gone.

That pair didn’t just make his shoes feel better. It made him wonder: Why doesn’t every shoe feel this way?

Once Dan felt the difference, he started noticing something hiding in plain sight.

The world’s best athletes gave away their shoes — but kept their custom insoles. The shoes were famous. The brands were famous. Yet when it came to what mattered most, they kept what they stood on.

That became a core Groov belief: The shoe is a shell. What shapes how you feel and perform is what’s underneath.

Dan knew shoe size was only part of the equation. Every foot is different, and every shoe has a different interior. After feeling the difference of truly custom support, he wanted to bring it to the shoes people already owned.

Then came the iPhone. If Face ID could map a face, why couldn’t a phone map a foot? Dan teamed up with a world-class computer vision engineer, and after months of testing, ShapeSense was born.

Today, ShapeSense uses your phone to capture 30,000+ data points, then uses award-winning AI to design insoles around your feet, your shoes, and how you move — bringing elite-level technology to your couch.

Groov’s unboxing makes it personal: your nickname on the box, a personalized note, and a mirror inside.

Not a size. Not a shelf. Not the average person.

You.

Walkers and runners. Skaters and bakers. People on their feet all day — and people simply tired of footwear they can’t wait to take off.

Some come to us because their feet hurt. Others because they never want them to. The mission is the same: make personalized support accessible to everyone.

Scan your feet. Choose your shoes. Get your Groov on. We don’t make your shoes. We make shoes yours.