I read a lot of content but try to only post for you what I think you may really like to know about or be entertained by. I am not a runner but I’m sure many of you are. So I am mentioning this new running shoe Enda (means “Go” in Swahili) made in Kenya, the first running shoe inspired by Kenya’s elite runners, benefiting Kenya. It officially launched yesterday by its two social entrepreneurs via a $75k Kickstarter funding campaign. Their goal is to connect those amateur runners in the West with Kenya’s professional racing culture meanwhile benefiting Kenya (through jobs/local community economic growth and enhanced global perception of its consumer product manufacturing capability). Their intention is to rewrite the traditional running shoe business model of large corporations and shareholders benefiting. Their plan includes donating a percentage of profits to community initiatives determined by customer vote. It would be interesting to see if they could make even a tiny dent in the $17 billion USA athletic shoe market. The shoe will debut in a race at the New York City marathon this November. It has been tested with runners in Kenya’s highlands, including the racers Justin Lagat and Joan Cherop. If you would like to view a short video about the shoe or back this project, pledges as low as $25 can be made by clicking HERE. Shoe price $100. After the Kickstarter funding is complete on June 30th, production to shoe delivery is expected to take a little over 5 months according to Kickstarter.

Kickstarter image