Zack Eberwein: Stoko Has Created the World’s First Supportive Apparel

Stoko has created the world’s first Supportive Apparel: the only clothing in the world proven to help weathered, meaning injured and aging athletes stay active by eliminating chronic pain and protecting against injuries.

Rooted in the core belief that everyone has untapped athletic potential, we are on a mission to remove barriers that stop athletes from doing what they love and reaching their full potential – starting with aches, pains, and nagging injuries.

Tell us about yourself?

I like to say that I’m relentlessly ambitious and unapologetically spirited. I’m an engineer turned entrepreneur who strives to create positive change in the world and inspire others to do the same.

I founded Stoko in 2017 with two of my closest friends after I got tired of giving up the sports I loved because of my nagging knee injuries.

I realized that there was an opportunity to create a new type of clothing that could enhance the human body, injured or not, and help athletes of all abilities eliminate pain, protect injuries, and get back to doing what they loved.

If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Remember not to take yourself too seriously. When you’re building something from nothing, it’s easy to misinterpret progress as success and lose track of what truly matters at the earliest stages.

There’s often a more effective way to do something, another valid perspective to consider, or more to learn.

What problem does your business solve?

Stoko helps weathered athletes stay active with the only clothing proven to help eliminate pain and protect injuries.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

Stoko was born from a personal need. I founded Stoko in 2017 with two of my closest friends after I got tired of giving up the sports I loved because of my nagging knee injuries.

We felt it was unfair that people had to give up activity as they got older because their body couldn’t keep up with them and we realized that there was a better way to help weathered athletes manage pain, protect injuries, and get back to doing what they loved.

What is your magic sauce?

All of our products incorporate an adjustable medical-grade joint support system seamlessly into the fabric of the garment.

We embed 90 feet of high-strength Dyneema cables that recreate and enhance the body’s muscles and ligaments, offering natural joint support that provides stability and targeted compression without compromising comfort or range of motion.

It’s essentially a flexible exoskeleton built into your clothing.

What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?

Our vision is to put Supportive Apparel on every athlete. We believe that Supportive Apparel will change the way that athletes of all abilities protect their bodies, push their limits, and perform their best.

Over the next 5 years, we want to push towards becoming a household name in North America by supporting 1 million weathered athletes in getting active again.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

We are creating an entirely new category of functional apparel, which has presented a number of unique challenges. The largest has been finding creative ways to demonstrate that Stoko’s K1 is so much more than just another pair of compression tights.

There isn’t anything else in the world that does what the K1 does, which makes it incredibly difficult to quickly educate athletes on the technology and benefits.

This has resulted in a number of strategic changes including positioning, branding, and expanding our channel strategy to include a number of strategic sales channels that give us the opportunity to show up in person to educate the market.

How do people get involved/buy into your vision?

We want to help as many weathered athletes get active as possible. If a past injury or nagging aches and pains hold you back, check out the K1 on www.stoko.com.

If you’re one of the lucky ones who’s body can keep up but you work with athletes looking to reach their full athletic potential, feel free to connect with us at hello@stoko.ca.