Squad United Fund: Youth-Owned Business Funded by a Stokvel, Launches “WHAT IF” Campaign This June 16
On June 16—an iconic day in South African history that represents the courage, voice, and power of youth—the Squad United Fund, a stokvel savings group, officially launches its debut campaign: “WHAT IF”.
This isn’t just a campaign; it’s the unveiling of a movement. The Squad United Fund has been quietly but powerfully building behind the scenes for the past eight months. Operating through the award-winning Stokfella app, this youth-driven stokvel has pooled together monthly contributions from young South Africans with a single bold aim: to launch Squad Footwear and Apparel, a business by the youth, for the youth, owned by the youth.
From Saving to Owning
The Squad United Fund isn’t your typical stokvel. It’s a structured, transparent, and tech-enabled savings group that understands both the heritage of collective saving and the future of digital finance. Leveraging the Stokfella platform for accountability and ease of use, Squad has attracted hundreds of contributors who are not only investors but also its first customers and future employees.
This isn’t just an investment. It’s ownership. It’s participation. It’s legacy.
Introducing Squad Footwear and Apparel
The flagship outcome of this stokvel is Squad Footwear and Apparel, a proudly South African fashion label, built to challenge the global narrative of what African brands can be. With its roots in the township, its soul in youth culture, and its eyes set on global runways, Squad represents more than just sneakers and streetwear. It represents economic activism.
June 16 marks not just remembrance, but renewal. Through the “WHAT IF” campaign, Squad Footwear and Apparel asks:
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What if we owned the brands we buy?
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What if young people built the factories instead of waiting to be hired?
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What if fashion was more than style, but also a vehicle for jobs, dignity, and generational wealth?
The Power of One Business
At its core, Squad is proof that one business can employ, empower, and economically activate an entire community. The same youth who fund the business will not only wear the brand but will help manufacture it, market it, and distribute it. From logistics to photography, social media to warehousing, the Squad ecosystem is designed to use the skills of the youth to serve the vision of the youth.
This business is not built to chase trends. It’s built to create opportunities. It’s not here to compete—it’s here to prove that township intelligence, resilience, and creativity are more than enough to run scalable, profitable, and world-class ventures.
A Campaign With Purpose
The “WHAT IF” campaign is both a mirror and a megaphone. A mirror to reflect the potential that exists in South Africa’s youth. And a megaphone to shout boldly that solutions to youth unemployment and lack of representation in ownership can be built by the very people affected.
As the first Squad sneakers and apparel lines prepare to drop this winter, the campaign marks a powerful entry into the fashion industry—one where customers are co-owners, youth are stakeholders, and community isn’t a buzzword, but the entire business model.
Squad Footwear and Apparel is not just launching a brand. It’s launching a belief system.
This Youth Day, Squad invites all South Africans to join the movement—not just by asking “WHAT IF?” but by becoming the answer.
