Company Overview#
Nine to Six is a Korean footwear company that runs the walking-shoe brand Walking Master. It designs functional walking shoes and silicone cushioning insoles for comfort and foot health. The shoes are made wider at the toe to fit Asian feet and are developed together with foot doctors. The company also runs a foot-scan service that measures a customer’s feet in about 10 seconds and matches them to the right shoes and insoles.
Technology & Product#
The flagship product is the Moolkung walking shoe, paired with a silicone insole that cushions impact. The brand’s edge is comfort: a wide toe-box shaped for Asian feet and a soft, squishy “Moolkung” sole feel. Walking Master’s foot-scan service reads up to 24 foot-data points in about 10 seconds and recommends matching footwear and insoles. Over time the company has built a large dataset of foot shapes that it uses to improve fit and product design.
Market & Use Cases#
The brand targets everyday consumers who want comfortable walking shoes, including people with foot pain such as plantar fasciitis. It sells directly through its own Korean and English online stores, and through major Korean retailers and department stores. Nationwide pop-up stores with foot scanners bring the fitting service to shoppers in person.
Traction & References#
The company turned profitable in 2021 and has collected foot-scan data from more than 400,000 people through nationwide pop-up stores(MoneyToday). Its silicone insole, which the company says absorbs 98.4% of impact, is a registered patent(MoneyToday). Walking Master products are sold through major Korean retailers including Olive Young, Lotte, Hyundai, and Shinsegae, and by 2020 the brand had about 70,000 members and KRW 2.5 billion in cumulative revenue(Platum). It raised a KRW 800 million seed round from Infobank, CNT Tech, and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund(MoneyToday), was selected for the TIPS program(Platum), and is a graduate of the IBK Changgong Mapo 5th cohort(MoneyToday). It won gold at international invention expos in Silicon Valley, Geneva, and Seoul(Asiae), and a silver award in the consumer product category at the 2025 Edison Awards(MoneyToday). It also signed an O2O platform agreement with the US foot-health company Aetrex(Platum).
Collaboration Relevance#
Nine to Six fits retail and distribution partners looking for differentiated comfort footwear, and health and wellness channels focused on foot care. Its foot-scan data and fitting service suit partnerships with foot-health providers and clinics. With an English store and a 2025 selection for a K-sports global accelerator, the company is preparing for overseas expansion, including Europe.