East Africa Fruits closed a $2.05 million round of capital led by Goodwell Investments with participation from FINCA Ventures and elea. Fledge is especially proud of this company, as it was our very first native-African fledgling. When we first invited the company to participate, it was less than 18 month old, it had earned only $100,000 in revenues in its first year, and had big...
The coronavirus pandemic brings more than a healthcare crisis to Africa, it brings disruptions to the food supply chain that will likely cause widespread hunger and starvation. The food system is already far from ideal, with (at least) 40% of that food never being eaten due to post-harvest losses (Rockefeller Foundation studies). Adding to these issues are the friction of closed borders...
The Opportunity is Africa is a new podcast bringing you stories from African entrepreneurs and investors, highlighting the many business opportunities that exist across the continent. Syndicated by the Africa Business Radio podcast network, a graduate of Fledge, as are the first five interviewees. Also check out Luni’s posts on the Energy, Opportunities, and Hurdles for Africa. You’ll...
Fledge’s founder is back from a two-week tour visiting seven fledglings in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. Click below to watch video tours of each:
Plus Geoffrey from Green Charcoal Uganda founded a second company that grows turkeys…
Malawi may be the second poorest country in the world, but the people are happy, the country is safe, traffic is reasonable, and opportunities abound. Below are three videos from a week on the ground visiting Ziweto, Ecobuild, and some other local entrepreneurs. Ziweto Agrovet shop in Lilongwe (30 seconds) Ecobuild’s prototype brickyard A day visiting a mushroom farm, a diversified...
Why are there so many fledglings from Africa? Two main reasons:
There are fewer quality business accelerators in Africa than in other regions of the world, and thus we receive more good applicants from Africa
The opportunities in Africa are enormous. It’s the last place on Earth with 1 billion people growing from poverty to middle class.
What happens in a 4-day accelerator? More than you can imagine…
The days are full of workshops, lectures, expert, conversations, with advice not only from the various speakers but also from fellow members of the cohort, as there are a dozen entrepreneurs in the room.
Above is a quick preview of what that all looks like. And coming up soon, videos of the final stories from Demo Day.
In 2013, Samuel Rigu was looking for a new challenge. Having grown up in a rural Kenyan farming family, he knew that farms in his village depended on synthetic fertilizers. On a continent where land degradation has driven millions of people out of their villages and into cities, fertilizer is often a must for farmers. However, African farmers pay two-to-six times the average world price...
BURN designs, manufactures and distributes super fuel-efficient cooking products that save lives and forests in the developing world. BURN has revolutionized the global cookstove sector by proving the business case for selling high-quality, locally manufactured and unsubsidized cookstoves. Since 2013, BURN has sold more than 425,000 cookstoves in sub-Saharan Africa, which have helped two...
Eight new fledglings have started The Nature Accelerator, powered by Fledge at the University of Padova in Italy. Central Park Bees Limited partners with smallholder farmers and beekeepers to strengthen their income through sustainable beekeeping by giving them access to free beekeeping training, equipment loans, extension services and guaranteed markets that offer competitive prices for...