Hilma is gone. The women-focused running shoe brand founded in 2019 to serve a specific slice of the performance footwear market closed without warning this week. Its website still loads. Orders no longer process. Limited stock lingers at REI and Sierra. Founder and CEO Brooke Torres confirmed the end in a candid email. “We ultimately hit an inventory issue unrelated to the overall demand for our product that we could not recover from,” Torres wrote. “We explored every possible path forward, but, compounded with a tightening venture capital environment (just 2.2% of capital in a recent year went to women-founded businesses) we were left with no choice but to shut things down.” She added thanks to the community that supported the brand’s mission. The message, shared with Retail Dive , leaves little room for speculation. Demand existed. Execution broke down. The shutdown arrives at a telling moment for the sneaker business. Nike still commands the largest share by a wide margin. Yet its scale creates openings.…