London Inc. March/April 2023 - 15

While the product may have Olympic capabilities, as a
business the partners are focusing on industrial tradespeople,
where they will go into the workplace and employ 3D
imaging to then produce a custom orthotics engineered to
the wearer's foot. They see it as a win-win for both employers
and employees: the employer benefits from decreased
injury and disability claim costs, while the worker gets
access to orthotics technology that was, for the most part,
previously unavailable in Canada.
" It dawned on me that no one is
doing this over here, " Kopacz says. " If
we could bring a piece of it here, we
knew it would be a hit. "
Bellia says they aren't trying to
upend the orthotics market, which
he says " in general is kind of like a
monopoly.
" We're not trying to replace them, "
he notes, saying it is more about
introducing a new technology into the
market. " What we aim to do is break
down the barriers of accessibility
for individuals to improve their biomechanical
health. "
But neither will tell you that
orthotics technology is the whole story of the business. At
times it seems almost secondary to the story they want to
tell. (So protective are they of their supplier that neither
were willing reveal where their product is manufactured.)
Kopacz, especially, knew and trusted the value of the
technology; building a business, on the other hand, meant
betting on themselves.
" Bravery is a big piece of it, " says Kopacz. " It's why we
rolled the dice and moved to Europe to train? What if Bellia
didn't reach out to stay connected over the years?
Maybe the two wouldn't ever become Step Sciences.
Maybe they'd still be in their old jobs. Or maybe, Bellia says,
they would end up building something else together.
" Is it really luck? " asks Bellia. " Or is it the fact that we're
swinging the axe so many times, that it can't not work? "
KIERAN DELAMONT
work well together. We're not afraid to take risks. "
" We entered into a pact, " adds Bellia. " The goal is to take
this far. It's not just making something and selling it. This
is ours. This is our baby. "
You could credit so many parts of their story to fate or
luck, Bellia says. What if they hadn't been lab partners in
grade nine? What if Kopacz hadn't taken up bobsleigh (a
sport he famously only started at age 23)? What if he never
MARCH / APRIL 2023 | londonincmagazine.ca | 15
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London Inc. March/April 2023

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