SEATTLE, WA – August 19, 2012
Social Innovation Fast Pitch (“SIFP”) has partnered with Fledge, the “conscious company” incubator, to provide additional advice, mentorship, and support to the for-profit finalists of the SIFP 2012 program. Additionally, the SIFP 2012 Fund II investors have selected Fledge to manage the operations of this year’s $100,000 investment fund.
Fledge will invite eight finalists from the for-profit track of the SIFP competition — three from last year’s competition and five from this year’s competition — into the growing network of Fledge “fledglings”.
“We are excited to be working with Fledge to provide ongoing assistance and community connections to the SIFP finalists, beyond the mentorship and workshops our program already provides”, says Will Poole, organizer of SIFP.
“This partnership continues the momentum in building Seattle as a hub for social enterprise, following on the founding of HUB Seattle, the creation of #SocEnt Weekend, the announcement of the Center for Impact and Innovation, and the launch of Fledge”, says Michael “Luni” Libes, founder and Managing Director at Fledge.
Fledge’s initial cohort of seven “fledglings” will be unveiled publicly at the Fledge “Demo Day” on September 23rd. Together with the eight SIFP finalists, these fifteen new ventures aim to go forth into the market to demonstrate that businesses can make a significant positive impact in the Puget Sound region and around the world, while making a profit at the same time. And now they will have more opportunities to help one another, networked with the ever-expanding social enterprise community based in and around Seattle.
“The long term success of entrepreneurial competitions depends highly on their ability to identify winners who later develop into successful ventures”, said Emer Dooley, faculty member of University of Washington’s Foster School of Business and Advisory Board Member of the Center for Innovation and Enterprise, “and we’ve found that it’s vital for competitions to be part of an ecosystem to help winners make the needed steps for long term success. What SIFP is doing with Fledge is a good example”.
ABOUT SVP’S SIFP PROGRAM
Social Innovation Fast Pitch (SIFP) is a fast-pitch investment forum highlighting New Ideas for Social Impact, presented by Social Venture Partners Seattle. Non-profits and for-profits compete for $150,000 in funding and the opportunity to present cutting-edge ideas to as many as 1,000 of the most engaged social impact leaders, philanthropists and investors around Seattle. For more details see http://sifp.net and http://svpseattle.org
ABOUT FLEDGE
Fledge is a “conscious company” incubator, addressing an enormous opportunity for the large and growing number of consumers who are increasingly: environmentally conscious, energy conscious, health conscious, conscious of sustainability, of community, and even conscious of consumption itself. Fledge incubates and accelerates startup entrepreneurs addressing these needs. For more details see https://www.fledge.co
