Success Story - Underdog

5 August 2025

About Underdog

Underdog was founded in 2019 as a motivational fitness apparel company built around a mission to unite a community of passionate, like-minded individuals—people who see themselves as underdogs and push through adversity to pursue greatness. Driven by the desire to make a deeper impact beyond apparel, we launched Underdog Energy in 2022—now known as the Underdog Performance Drink. Our goal was to disrupt the traditional energy drink space by offering a cleaner, more effective alternative designed for both mental and physical performance. The Underdog Performance Drink is naturally flavored and sweetened, with zero sugar, no artificial ingredients, and five core functional components to support sustained energy, focus, and power. We began with a two-person team and a single flavor. Today, we’ve grown to a team of eight and offer three distinct flavors, with plans to expand to five total flavors this summer. Our retail footprint includes over 400 locations across New England, and we maintain a strong direct-to-consumer presence through our website and Amazon. Our primary audience includes high-performing individuals—from fitness enthusiasts and athletes to first responders and everyday grinders—who share the underdog mentality.

The Path To Informed Sport Certification

Our experience with the Informed Sport certification process has been incredibly positive and educational. From the start, the Informed Sport team made the steps clear and easy to follow, providing detailed guidance and communication at every stage. We always felt supported, which gave us confidence as we moved through the process. What stood out most was the level of detail involved in the testing. While we’ve always been confident in our ingredients and manufacturing practices, going through the certification deepened our understanding of how even trace contaminants can become an issue without proper oversight. It was a valuable reminder of how important it is to work with trusted suppliers and maintain strict quality controls. The process reinforced our commitment to transparency and gave us even more appreciation for the value of third-party testing—especially for brands like ours that serve competitive athletes and high-accountability professions.

The Informed Sport team made coordinating shipments a breeze and supported us through the entire process, ensuring we had the correct documentation to make for a smooth shipment of our products for testing.

The Importance of Informed Sport Certification

At Underdog, everything we do is rooted in trust, transparency, and performance. Our community includes athletes, first responders, military personnel, and high performers of all kinds—many of whom are subject to drug testing and have to be extremely mindful of what they put into their bodies. As our product gained traction in the fitness and professional sports communities, we knew that earning their trust required more than just a clean label—it demanded third-party verification. Seeking banned substance testing was a natural step in living up to our commitment to safety, quality, and integrity. We chose Informed Sport because of its global reputation, rigorous testing standards, and credibility within the athletic community. It’s not just a badge—it’s a signal to our customers that we take their health and performance seriously. Being part of the Informed Sport program aligns perfectly with our mission to fuel the underdog journey the right way—with full confidence and no compromises.

We actively communicate our Informed Sport certification across all key channels to build trust with customers and stakeholders. The certification logo is featured on our product packaging, website, and Amazon listings, and we regularly highlight its importance through social media, email marketing, and educational content. Internally, our team is trained to understand and speak confidently about the certification, and we incorporate it into sales materials when engaging with retail partners, gyms, and professional teams. It’s a core part of how we position Underdog as a cleaner, trusted performance drink.

The Doors Informed Sport Certification Opened For Us

Our main goals are to build customer trust, expand into professional sports and military channels, and ultimately drive growth through retail expansion and strategic partnerships. Earning Informed Sport certification plays a key role in helping us reach these objectives by validating the safety and integrity of our product—especially for athletes and professionals who rely on cleaner supplements. It gives us a competitive edge and opens doors that would otherwise be closed without third-party certification.

Since becoming Informed Sport certified, we've seen clear benefits. It’s helped us gain traction with high-accountability customers like first responders, military personnel, and performance-focused athletes. Most notably, it’s opened the door to opportunities with NHL teams and players (one is now an investor), where certification is required to be considered. We’ve also seen increased interest from retailers and a boost in credibility that’s directly supporting our growth.

Tips For Those Interested In Becoming Certified

Work closely with your manufacturer: Make sure they understand the requirements and are aligned on documentation and ingredient sourcing.

Ask questions: The Informed Sport team is incredibly helpful. Don’t hesitate to reach out—they’ll guide you through every step.

Use the certification: Once approved, highlight it across your marketing, especially in channels where trust and compliance are key.