Clove, Creating The Official Health Care Shoe
Courtesy of Clove
Clove, a Philadelphia-based e-commerce startup, is bringing a different focus to an often overlooked space in health care: the shoe. Using feedback from surveys and product research, Clove created a slip-on sneaker that is both liquid-repellent and stain-resistant, qualities that traditionally made finding good hospital-use footwear difficult. Officially launched in November of 2019, Clove has grown to 15 employees from three when they first started. The company, which in true direct-to-consumer spirit is primarily online-based, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding so far, according to Crunchbase.
Hear from their CEO and founder Joe Ammon how Clove is trying to revolutionize health care footwear, the importance of a company going beyond the product to share stories and create a community via social media, and how they’ve been giving back during a pandemic.
Hi Gray: I’ll admit I first found out about Clove from doctors and nurses I follow on Instagram. It’s an exciting concept and the first shoe brand I’ve seen fully dedicated to the medical field, so I am glad to see that. Tell me about how Clove came about.
Joe Ammon: We kind of play a different role than other health care companies. The idea was inspired by my wife, who is a registered nurse. It wasn’t until we moved down to Philly when she was going through this phase on finding the perfect shoe for her. Finally I started asking questions, and that was really the genesis of getting excited for Clove. She wishes she had similar brand experience with some of the other companies she liked.
HG: You were in business school when the idea for Clove came to fruition. How was the experience?
JA: Wharton is such an incredible place for entrepreneurship in general and that’s why I came to Wharton specifically, it was the network and the curriculum.
HG: Much of your time as a company has been spent during a COVID-19 pandemic, what have been some challenges you faced?
JA: The biggest challenge we faced as a company was, how do we show up as much as possible [for people] who are going through hell. I saw it with my wife …