The 20-time Grand Slam tennis champion is taking a big step toward life after tennis with On Running, a Swiss running brand with a cult following and global ambitions. Despite stressing that he is far from finished playing on the World tour, Federer has started to look at what comes next as he has become an investor in On, which was started in 2010 in Zurich.

According to its founders, On has been profitable since 2014 and its products are sold in 55 countries. The company has amassed a cult following ranging from athletes and entrepreneurs to bankers and doctors. Its trademark Cloud shoe incorporates a patented technology, called CloudTec offering an uniquely soft landing and springy takeoff. Fashion figures like J.W. Anderson wear Clouds, as well as Hollywood types like Will Smith, John Malkovich and Emma Stone. It is worth noting that the company states that it does not pay people to wear its products.

After growing by word of mouth among endurance athletes and Olympians, and in running specialty stores, On is gaining ground as an underdog rival to giants like Nike and Adidas in the performance sports shoe category. “Fans seem to think of us as an athletes’ insider secret,” said Olivier Bernhard, a duathlon and Ironman champion and one of On’s three founders. However, in Germany, the Cloud has become the second most-sold sneaker after Nike’s Air Max 270, according to NPD, a research firm. In the United States, now On’s largest market, the shoes are a mainstay of gym floors.

Federer’s investment in at On comes at an important time in the evolution of both the brand and the 50-year-old global sneaker market, where, historically, so-called performance categories, such as tennis, running, basketball, have driven industry growth. For the past four years, however, the popularity of performance shoes has been declining. Instead, sports lifestyle shoes, i.e. sports-inspired or fashion-forward sneakers that are not intended for sports use, are set to become the largest footwear category in the United States, according to NPD. Matt Powell, a senior industry adviser on sports for NPD, said that “many people are no longer in need of expensive and highly technical sneakers — they just want to look good,” Mr. Powell said. “But there are still tens of millions of people out there who are runners who do want those types of shoes, and increasingly want unique brands that others don’t have.”

It may not rank in the booming sneaker resale market, or feature in the most hyped of sneaker drops, but On’s position at the intersection of fashion, performance and outdoor lifestyles mean it is gaining traction catering to a casually attired, digitally connected and health-conscious professional class. Powell confirmed that “it’s pretty clear On wants to be more than a niche running brand” as the brand has started to attract the fastest-growing global community and has joined the ranks of the leading brands in the US, Europe and Asia. The signature On aesthetic is very design forward appealing to tastemakers from the sneaker community, performance demands of athletes and comfort-need of the daily user, ready to disrupt the mass market that has long been ruled by the likes of Nike, Adidas, Asics and Puma.

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