Michele Kang's Kynisca Leads Multi-Million Dollar Seed Funding Round for Women’s Footwear Brand IDA Sports
MICHELE KANG’S KYNISCA AND OTHER INVESTORS SUPPORT IDA’S MISSION TO DELIVER HIGH PERFORMANCE FOOTWEAR TO FEMALE ATHLETES
NEW YORK & WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 31, 2024) — Today, IDA Sports, the brand reinventing high performance footwear for female athletes, are proud to announce a $2 million investment led by Kynisca with participation from Elysian Park Ventures, Firebird Impact and Tipt Ventures. The seed funding will be used to help advance IDA’s mission to research, design and manufacture soccer cleats that support the unique biomechanics of women and girls. Whether you’re a professional or collegiate athlete, or just a soccer enthusiast playing at the park with friends, IDA’s unique cleats are specifically designed to support female athletes of all ages and skill levels.
Kynisca, founded by Michele Kang and launched during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, is the world’s first multi-team, global organization exclusively dedicated to professionalizing women’s sports and proving the industry’s commercial viability through strategic investments in teams and brands around the world.
“There is minimal sports science research focused solely on female athletes, resulting in training routines, performance recovery plans and shoe and clothing designs with a male body type as the baseline,” said Kang. “IDA challenges this traditional way of thinking, creating high performance, comfortable footwear for female athletes to maximize potential on the field. Women’s sports should never be an afterthought – they should be recognized as a standalone, commercially viable product and it’s exciting to partner with an innovative brand that shares the same sentiment.”
“IDA has always had the singular goal of investing in female athletes to provide them with the products that they not only deserve but ones that can also help maximize their performance. I could not think of a better partnership than with Michele Kang and Kynisca, who are also taking a direct approach in addressing the inequities that female athletes face through action and investment,” said IDA Sports Co-Founder and CEO, Laura Youngson. “We are very excited to have Michele’s belief and backing and look forward to continuing to lead the industry in research and design for female players.”
IDA will utilize Kynisca’s support to grow IDA’s brand visibility and promote the quality of its products. This includes launching a professional player testing initiative, allowing female players at the highest level the opportunity to directly shape the future of what they will wear on the field.
Co-founded by Youngson in 2018, IDA Sports is the only company in the soccer cleat and turf sports industries that exclusively designs and manufactures footwear for women. Using science and research, IDA rejects the traditional “shrink it and pink it” model, instead building cleats based on the anatomical differences and performance needs of the female athlete’s body. With female athletes 4-8 times more likely to sustain ACL injuries, IDA’s science-backed design aims to mitigate everyday, preventable pain while also reducing the risk of major injuries to the knees, ankles and more.
In 2023, IDA Sports tripled its revenues from the previous year and is on track to post another consecutive year with tripled year-over-year revenue growth in 2024. IDA’s products can be found in leading retailers including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Soccer.com, SCHEELS and Academy Sports & Outdoors.
About IDA Sports
IDA Sports prioritizes high performance and comfortable footwear for athletes who have traditionally been an afterthought. Whether you’re a weekend warrior or an elite athlete, IDA Sports believes you should have greater choice and access to the best equipment when you step onto the field. Structurally, IDA Sports cleats are designed to accommodate the nuances of the female athlete’s foot. Aesthetically, they're designed with inclusivity in mind. For more information, or to try our products, visit our website here.
About Kynisca Sports International, Ltd.
Kynisca Sports International, Ltd. is a pioneering global organization dedicated to women’s sports, headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Kynisca’s mission is to transform women's football through unprecedented investment, proving its commercial viability and cultural impact around the world. The organization supports female athletes with state-of-the-art facilities, world-class technical staff, and innovative sports science through the Kynisca Innovation Hub, while preserving each club’s unique identity. Kynisca is the first global, female-owned, multi-club organization leading the way in women’s health innovation and entertainment while building a high-performance culture of excellence on and off the pitch. For more information, visit our website here.
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