What Is INSITE Performance?
How INSITE is Elevating What it Means to be a Supplier
If you’ve been following us on social media, you might have noticed we switched our name from INSITE Insoles to INSITE Performance. Don’t worry, we’re still making insoles. In fact, we’re making more than ever: by the end of 2026, we’ll have manufactured almost a 100 million pairs for shoe brands worldwide, the most insoles we’ve produced in a single year!
So, why the refresh to our name and logo? Because the story of the INSITE brand is growing. We started in 2015 as a direct-to-consumer company, developing a line of orthotic insoles for elite athletes. A few years later, we began applying that knowledge to supply OEM footbeds, building our Contoura® insole program on the same podiatrist designs that informed our aftermarket products.
Now, as we enter our second decade of business, we’re growing once more. Over the coming seasons, we’re introducing new midsole and outsole materials, expanding our ProvenComfort® testing capacity, and partnering with more Tier 3 suppliers to enhance our bio-based foams. With these new tools, we’re working to be the world’s most trusted footwear ingredient brand—not just for what’s inside your shoe, but for the whole foundation of how your shoe performs.
Here’s what INSITE Performance means to us as a team—and what we hope it will mean to footwear brands as we continue to partner together.
Engineering Full Cushioning Systems
At INSITE, we’ve always believed that shoe performance is more than just the sum of its parts. Insoles, midsoles, and outsoles can—and should!—work together as a whole to achieve the comfort and function of the shoe’s intended design.
That’s why we’ll be introducing new materials in our Levation™ and Pulsion® foam ranges optimized for midsoles, as well as CPU for co-molded outsole components. Combined with our existing insole products, this empowers us to be a one-stop shop for underfoot components. It also enables us to build cushioning and traction as full systems, merchandised for specific footwear categories.
High Performance Bio-Based Foams
We’ve been on a mission for years to change the narrative when it comes to sustainable foams. Thanks to Tier 3 partners like Susterra® Bio-PDO™, we’ve introduced bio-based PU foams that can go toe-to-toe with petrol-based alternatives on durability and physical properties.
Now with our upcoming collaborations with Xatryx® bioPTMEG, we’re introducing even more options for bio-based PU foams, using second-generation agricultural feedstocks as “drop-in” replacements for some of the petro-chemical ingredients in PU. With multiple plant-based options and resulting cushioning experiences, INSITE is innovating so that brands never have to choose between underfoot performance and reducing their fossil fuel use.
Biomechanics Excellence
Our goal at INSITE is to build footwear on the science of human movement. Years ago, we began developing our own in-house biomechanics testing team, helping us engineer data-driven footwear cushioning for real-world use. Our ProvenComfort® test methods were established with the help of academic experts in kinesiology and sports medicine. This core service is what helps us uniquely tune each INSITE product for the customers it’s intended for.
Now, we are building out the brand-new INSITE Performance Lab in Los Angeles, California to take that testing even further. This increased footprint in LA will help us streamline our current ProvenComfort® testing. It will also allow us to bring more test methods in-house over time, like slo-mo and 3D capture, VO2 max, and force plate testing. With these updated facilities, we’ll continue to educate and inform developers on how to make the best possible decisions for the performance of their footwear.
Footwear Performance—Made for Everyone
The key to INSITE’s success is that we never take comfort for granted. Every shoe—and every customer—deserves the same underfoot benefits that can often be found in the footwear made for elite athletes. Our process uses the innovation of materials, the power of design, and the science of biomechanics to make comfort and function the number one priority in footwear. That’s what BUILT WITH INSITE® means. That’s what INSITE Performance delivers.
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