Navalayo Osembo
Navalayo Osembo is a Kenyan social entrepreneur and co-founder / CEO of Enda Athletic, Africa’s first performance-running-shoe company. A London School of Economics graduate with earlier stints at the UN and Deloitte, she left a global career in 2015 to build a brand that channels Kenya’s distance-running heritage into world-class footwear and jobs at home.
Enda launched in 2017 after a record-breaking Kickstarter for its debut model, the Iten trainer. The line has since expanded to the daily-trainer Lapatet, the lightweight Koobi Fora racer and, in 2025, the trail-ready Jimba. Shoes are designed in Nairobi, assembled in Kilifi and export-ready within 120 days, supporting 300 direct and contract roles and sourcing 40 percent of components locally. Enda now ships to more than 55 countries and dedicates 2 percent of revenue to athletics and education projects in running communities.
The brand’s global rise is underlined by its kit sponsorship of the Comoros, Djibouti and Gabon Olympic teams for Paris 2024 – marking the first time an African shoe company outfits multiple delegations on sport’s biggest stage. Enda also fields an elite squad that includes Paris marathon qualifier Kenneth Kemboi.
Osembo sits on the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Board, mentors founders through the Google for Startups Africa programme, and runs a tennis academy in Bungoma. Her goal: place an African brand among the world’s top three running-shoe makers while proving manufacturing, impact and profit can run in the same lane.