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As the global soccer industry races toward a men’s World Cup in North America this summer and a Women’s World Cup in Brazil in 2027, independent soccer brand Senda Athletics is betting there is room in the market for an underdog.
The fair-trade soccer company announced this week it has raised $1.5 million in seed funding as it prepares to launch what it says are the world’s first Fair Trade Certified soccer cleats, adding another challenger to a crowded global footwear market dominated by giants like Nike, Adidas and Puma. The brand is looking to expand the round of funding up to $2.5 million to fuel its move into 11-a-side soccer.
This round includes investments from Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang, Racing Louisville owner John Neace and South Florida-based entrepreneur Marc Effron. Kang’s involvement is particularly notable because she also invested in IDA Sports, a company focused specifically on soccer cleats designed for women athletes.
For Senda founder Santiago Halty, the funding represents more than a capital injection. It is validation that a niche soccer company built around ethical manufacturing and grassroots relationships can survive in an industry where marketing budgets often determine visibility.
“We were starting in 2010 with the goal of bringing Fair Trade Certified balls, so balls that are ethically made,” Halty told The Athletic. “Now we’re launching the world’s first fair-trade cleats right ahead of the World Cup.”
The Miami-based company’s path to Neace began through The Women’s Cup, the annual invitational tournament hosted in Louisville. Since 2023, Senda has served as the tournament’s official ball provider, supplying ethically produced fair-trade match balls and grip socks for clubs from the NWSL, Spain and Brazil. Halty connected with Neace during the 2024 event, and Neace later connected him with Kang, whose growing portfolio in women’s soccer already included investments across clubs and equipment brands.
Rather than viewing the overlap as competition, Halty said the conversations revealed potential alignment.
“She specifically asked if we’d ever be open to collaborating,” Halty said. “I said absolutely, if the right opportunity comes.”
The cleat launch arrives at a moment when soccer participation and commercial investment in North America are surging ahead of the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. But women’s soccer has become a major part of Senda’s strategy.
Senda’s current cleat model is not women-specific, though the company said it continues researching the category while collecting feedback from players and equipment managers across women’s soccer.
“Not everybody is looking for women-specific boots,” Halty said. “We’re listening closely.”
Halty said that Senda’s new funding will primarily go toward marketing, staffing, research and development, inventory and expansion efforts as the company tries to scale ahead of the next two World Cups. Halty said Senda recently hired former Target merchandising director Dan Dumonsau as chief revenue officer, along with Hans George, who spent nearly three decades with Nike, as an advisor. Former Nike executive Ricardo Gaitan is joining the company in the role of CMO.
“Marketing is probably the hardest part,” Halty said. “How do you compete with brands that have huge budgets? How do you tell stories that inspire consumers?”
Senda will outfit Canada and Orlando Pride goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau with boots this summer at the FIFA World Cup, and is in discussions with additional players connected to national teams, including for Cabo Verde, Panama and Uzbekistan.
Rather than chasing established global superstars, Halty said the company is intentionally targeting soccer’s underdogs.
“It would be the first World Cup for some of these players and the first World Cup for our boots,” Halty said. “That’s a perfect fit for us.”
The strategy mirrors Senda’s broader position inside the soccer marketplace: authentic, mission-driven and intentionally outside the mainstream commercial machinery.
Still, scaling an independent soccer brand in the United States comes with complications.
Halty acknowledged concerns over potential NWSL brand regulations that could require footwear companies to pay licensing fees for on-field exposure, a model more common in American sports leagues than in global soccer.
“I think the U.S. is the only country where that happens,” Halty said. “In Europe and Latin America, players make their own decisions. I think it allows for more innovation.”
For a startup brand, those costs could create additional barriers to entry at a moment when women’s soccer is becoming increasingly commercialized.
But Senda appears willing to embrace the challenge.
The company’s name itself, “senda,” means “path” in Spanish, and reflects Halty’s belief that soccer can create economic opportunity beyond the pitch.
“The idea is that soccer can be a path to change people’s lives through the game and through fair trade,” he said.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Soccer, Sports Business, Women's Soccer
2026 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
The fair-trade soccer company announced this week it has raised $1.5 million in seed funding as it prepares to launch what it says are the world’s first Fair Trade Certified soccer cleats, adding another challenger to a crowded global footwear market dominated by giants like Nike, Adidas and Puma. The brand is looking to expand the round of funding up to $2.5 million to fuel its move into 11-a-side soccer.
This round includes investments from Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang, Racing Louisville owner John Neace and South Florida-based entrepreneur Marc Effron. Kang’s involvement is particularly notable because she also invested in IDA Sports, a company focused specifically on soccer cleats designed for women athletes.
For Senda founder Santiago Halty, the funding represents more than a capital injection. It is validation that a niche soccer company built around ethical manufacturing and grassroots relationships can survive in an industry where marketing budgets often determine visibility.
“We were starting in 2010 with the goal of bringing Fair Trade Certified balls, so balls that are ethically made,” Halty told The Athletic. “Now we’re launching the world’s first fair-trade cleats right ahead of the World Cup.”
The Miami-based company’s path to Neace began through The Women’s Cup, the annual invitational tournament hosted in Louisville. Since 2023, Senda has served as the tournament’s official ball provider, supplying ethically produced fair-trade match balls and grip socks for clubs from the NWSL, Spain and Brazil. Halty connected with Neace during the 2024 event, and Neace later connected him with Kang, whose growing portfolio in women’s soccer already included investments across clubs and equipment brands.
Rather than viewing the overlap as competition, Halty said the conversations revealed potential alignment.
“She specifically asked if we’d ever be open to collaborating,” Halty said. “I said absolutely, if the right opportunity comes.”
The cleat launch arrives at a moment when soccer participation and commercial investment in North America are surging ahead of the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. But women’s soccer has become a major part of Senda’s strategy.
Senda’s current cleat model is not women-specific, though the company said it continues researching the category while collecting feedback from players and equipment managers across women’s soccer.
“Not everybody is looking for women-specific boots,” Halty said. “We’re listening closely.”
Halty said that Senda’s new funding will primarily go toward marketing, staffing, research and development, inventory and expansion efforts as the company tries to scale ahead of the next two World Cups. Halty said Senda recently hired former Target merchandising director Dan Dumonsau as chief revenue officer, along with Hans George, who spent nearly three decades with Nike, as an advisor. Former Nike executive Ricardo Gaitan is joining the company in the role of CMO.
“Marketing is probably the hardest part,” Halty said. “How do you compete with brands that have huge budgets? How do you tell stories that inspire consumers?”
Senda will outfit Canada and Orlando Pride goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau with boots this summer at the FIFA World Cup, and is in discussions with additional players connected to national teams, including for Cabo Verde, Panama and Uzbekistan.
Rather than chasing established global superstars, Halty said the company is intentionally targeting soccer’s underdogs.
“It would be the first World Cup for some of these players and the first World Cup for our boots,” Halty said. “That’s a perfect fit for us.”
The strategy mirrors Senda’s broader position inside the soccer marketplace: authentic, mission-driven and intentionally outside the mainstream commercial machinery.
Still, scaling an independent soccer brand in the United States comes with complications.
Halty acknowledged concerns over potential NWSL brand regulations that could require footwear companies to pay licensing fees for on-field exposure, a model more common in American sports leagues than in global soccer.
“I think the U.S. is the only country where that happens,” Halty said. “In Europe and Latin America, players make their own decisions. I think it allows for more innovation.”
For a startup brand, those costs could create additional barriers to entry at a moment when women’s soccer is becoming increasingly commercialized.
But Senda appears willing to embrace the challenge.
The company’s name itself, “senda,” means “path” in Spanish, and reflects Halty’s belief that soccer can create economic opportunity beyond the pitch.
“The idea is that soccer can be a path to change people’s lives through the game and through fair trade,” he said.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Soccer, Sports Business, Women's Soccer
2026 The Athletic Media Company
Continue reading...
