Venture capital and angel investing are realms filled with unspoken assumptions. One such assumption is that companies should burn through substantial capital before even considering profitability. This notion is misguided! Countless startups, often overlooked by these investors, are compelled to be profitable to survive. If these investors took a moment to recognize these startups, they would...
One of the most common problems faced by the fledglings is large, unexpected orders by customers. How is that a problem? Big customers don’t pay upon ordering, nor upon delivery, but typically 30 or 45 or 60 days after delivery (a.k.a. Net-30, Net-45, or Net-60). It thus takes money to make money, as young companies can’t typically pay the same Net-30/45/60 to their vendors. The...
Crowdfunding is now working at scale… and at the moment there are three campaigns underway for fledglings, including one that covers 27 African fledglings.
wefunder.com/arqlite
wefunder.com/shift.labs
wefunder.com/africaeats
“Access to financial services is a fundamental human right“, said the founders of Ensibuuko six years ago on the Fledge Demo Day stage. The company has been helping Saving and Credit Co-ops (SACCOS) modernize their operations and helping the farmers who use those institutions for savings and loans get access to modern, mobile-enabled financial services. Thanks to FCA Investments...
As foundations and mission-aligned investors swiftly shift their investments into ESG funds and direct investments in values-aligned companies and entrepreneurs, they overlook many visionary funds and fund managers who are forging the future that we need. These funds are myth-busters and courageous innovations. More than rethinking our financial system, they are creating viable alternatives to...
Africa Eats is based in Africa, not Asia, but David Kim wanted to hear the story and share it with his global audience.
Luni’s backstory starts the episode, Why Africa at 29:00, Africa Eats at 38:30
Listen as a podcast: Apple • Google • Amazon
More details about Fledge’s first spin-off investment company at AfricaEats.com.
Everyone thinks there are entrepreneurs everywhere (and that seems true), and everyone thinks there are Angels everywhere too (and that seems not as true). The Angel Accelerator makes more Angel investors, teaching people how to invest in startups by having them invest in startups in a safe, controlled, curated program. EDUCATION The program teaches a variety of topics. Participants meet weekly...
I’ve been operating startup investment funds since 2012, and for the twenty years before that, I sat on the founder’s side of the table raising capital from venture capital funds. I thus feel an expertise on the subject of startup investing, and have trouble understanding what others don’t understand about the topic. Case in point, portfolios. Specifically, the fact is that...
Diloo delivers just about anything to anyone in Lima, Peru with a smartphone. In that growing city of 10+ million, with a fast-growing middle-class, and traffic like you can’t imagine, deliveries are a popular service. Over the past year, Diloo’s usage has grown 707%, and to keep up with that growth, the company has just closed a $400,000 investment round. Co-founder/CEO Jose ignacio...
Joel Solomon spoke at Impact Hub Seattle about the urgency of impact.