Ida Sports Receives $2M Investment to Grow Women-First Cleats Brand

Ida Sports has received a $2 million investment as it looks to grow its production of cleats designed for women and girls.

Kynisca, a new organization devoted to commercializing and investing in women’s sports across the globe, led the seed round investment, which also included participation from Elysian Park Ventures, Firebird Ventures and Tipt Ventures. Michele Kang launched Kynisca during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Ida Sports, which launched in 2018, describes itself as the sole cleat brand that offers shoes exclusively designed for women. Its shoes are based on the shape of a woman’s foot as opposed to adapted from a male last, which, until recently, was standard practice in the industry. In the last few years, more athletic shoe brands like Lululemon and Under Armour have started to tailor their manufacturing processes to offer women more exact fits in their shoes. Last year, Under Armour launched the UA Magnetico, the brand’s first soccer cleat made from a women’s last.

Ida cleats offer a wider toe box, more arch support, a narrower heel cup and other elements meant to improve performance and mitigate injury risk for female athletes on the field.

“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 cofounder and chief executive officer Laura Youngson in a statement. “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 is sold on its website and in major retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Soccer.com, Scheel’s and Academy Sports and Outdoors. The brand tripled its revenues in 2023 from the prior year and is tracking for another year of tripled revenue growth in 2024.

The new funding will be invested into product creation and brand marketing efforts. Ida also plans to launch a new initiative that incorporates feedback from female athletes into the design of the shoes.

“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 Kynisca’s 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.”