Enda, Kenya’s first world-class running shoes

May 22, 2017May 25, 2017 Gova-Media

We are presenting you Enda, Kenya’s first running shoe created by Navalayo Osembo-Ombati and Weldon Kennedy, in 2015 as a Benefit Corporation.

As you might already know, Kenya is home to generations of world’s greatest distance runners. Kenya’s North Rift Valley sees every year, runners from around the world train on it’s roads with the great Kenyan masters.

Some of the technical features of the shoes are: 4mm Drop, wider Toe Box, tight Weight – 7.9 oz (224 grams), midsole as Heel Counte, and full Rubber Outsole:

Enda’s goal is to building a company that has creating social value at it’s core right: job creations, supporting local communities, changing the way the world sees Kenya.

Enda started with a Kickstarter campaign in May and June 2016, and is now shipping it’s first pairs in May 2017. Initially only assembling the shoes in Kenya (component pieces are sourced from Asia), the company (Enda Sport wears) has a long-term vision of having the shoes 100% made in Kenya.

Who are the two co-founders Nava and Weldon?

“Nava comes from a village near Eldoret, Kenya, where many of Kenya’s running champions come from. A graduate of the London School of Economics, Navalayo has worked in different places around the world, including the US, UK, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya. She is trained as both an accountant and a lawyer, which explains why she is so interested in risk management, results-based management and writing” (Kickstarter).

“Weldon is a social-change campaigner who has worked on a range of early stage social change startups. After gaining business experience as Managing Director of Change.org in Europe, he co-founded Enda with the belief Kenya should receive greater benefit from it’s reputation as a running powerhouse. His half marathon PB is 1:37:39” (Kickstarter).

Here is a little video used for the brand’s Kickstarter promotion back in 2016: