Leyton has become an Official Supplier to La Roche-Posay Racing Team, the French challenger for the 38th America's Cup, extending a relationship that already sees the innovation funding specialist backing the France SailGP Team.
The new deal means Leyton will support the French Challenger's campaign through to the Cup in Naples in 2027. It builds on ties that go well beyond typical sports sponsorship.
Leyton has already been working with K-Challenge on its innovation projects and R&D activities. Over time that relationship has broadened to cover everything from elite sailing to training the next generation and decarbonising maritime transport.
The America's Cup has occupied a singular place in world sport for 175 years now. At its core, it functions as a full-scale laboratory, where naval architecture, hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, digital simulation, artificial intelligence, electronics, materials, data and human performance all converge in one campaign.
Engineers, technicians and athletes work together towards the same goal: turning innovation into competitive advantage. That mindset is exactly what draws Leyton to the sport. The company's own work is built on advising businesses on their innovation projects, pulling together different areas of expertise, and turning an idea into tangible performance.
There's also a national dimension to this. Leyton is a French group backing a French team, and the company sees the campaign as a chance to show that France can create businesses, innovate, unite its talent and make its mark internationally.
K-Challenge is bringing together sailors, engineers, technicians and experts from a wide range of disciplines, from Lorient through to Naples, with the ambition of taking the French team to the highest level.
David Parra, Deputy CEO of the Leyton Group, said the relationship with K-Challenge was built around a shared conviction that innovation only has value when it delivers performance.
"The America's Cup is probably one of the most spectacular illustrations of this," he said. "Behind the sporting performance lies an extraordinary human, technological and entrepreneurial endeavour, where every detail matters and the leading experts in their fields must work together towards a common goal. We are delighted to support K-Challenge and La Roche-Posay Racing Team in this international campaign. Supporting a French team that brings the excellence of its sailors, engineers and technologies to this level has particular significance for Leyton."
He added: "Beyond everything we have in common, there is also an exceptional sporting challenge: a French team setting out to win the America's Cup. We are proud that Leyton can be by its side.
"This is a natural next step in the story we are building together, and one that we now want all our stakeholders to experience fully through to Naples in 2027."
This isn't just about brand exposure. Leyton wants clients, prospective clients and partners to get an inside look at a campaign whose daily pressures mirror those of any serious business: continuous innovation, teamwork, data management, rapid decision-making and the pursuit of performance.
Base visits in Naples, meetings with K-Challenge's sailors and engineers, and time on the water are the sorts of experiences Leyton plans to offer decision-makers and entrepreneurs among its network. The Naples venue also suits Leyton's own growth in Italy, where the group has enjoyed sustained growth in recent years. With a presence in 20 countries, Leyton intends to draw on the event's global reach to bring together clients, business leaders, partners and employees from across its markets, combining French roots with an international presence.
Stephan Kandler, CEO of K-Challenge, said the arrangement went well beyond a partnership for brand exposure. "Leyton knows our project, our teams and how we work," he said. "They support our innovation, understand the demands of sport at the highest level and share our desire to make sailing a platform for technology, entrepreneurship and passing on knowledge."
He pointed out that the Cup campaign is as demanding a business undertaking as it is a sporting one. "It requires bringing together the best talent, combining very different areas of expertise, innovating continuously, making the right decisions quickly and turning all of that into performance on the water. That is precisely why having Leyton alongside us makes so much sense."
"We are delighted to take this next step together and to make this campaign a sporting, technological and human adventure, as well as a powerful experience to share with their clients, partners and employees," Kandler said.
Racing resumes soon enough. La Roche-Posay Racing Team heads to the preliminary regatta of the 38th America's Cup in Naples from 24 to 27 September. Sailing AC40s, the Challengers will line up again against Defender Emirates Team New Zealand, on the same waters that host the Cup's major events in 2027.
From there, La Roche-Posay Racing Team will continue its preparations from its Naples base, with its sights set on the Louis Vuitton Cup and the ambition of becoming the Challenger that faces the Defender in the 38th America's Cup Match.
For both K-Challenge and Leyton, a new chapter now begins, guided by the same principle that has carried them this far: turning innovation into performance.
