Fledge is a global network of conscious company accelerators and investment funds, helping entrepreneurs create impactful companies and co-ops at scale through intense, short programs filled with education, guidance, and a massive amount of mentorship.
Each city runs (up to) one session per year. Each city’s program is a bit different from the others’, but all are focused on mission-driven for-profit companies, and all invest in their fledglings.
Th educational curriculum is based on The Next Step books and online classes, taught to fill in any gaps in the key skills entrepreneurs need to know to succeed: strategy, financials, marketing, sales, funding, etc.
All our cities share a global network of hundreds of mentors, who share their experiences, advice, and connections in 1-on-1 meetings with participants.
Every day, week after week, we push the participants forward, iterating business strategy, financial models, marketing and sales plans, funding options, and investor and sales pitches, plus we put a special focus on storytelling. The result is intense and creates lasting value for years after the companies return home.
We have been refining this service since 2012 and, to date, have helped hundreds of companies from dozens of countries. We’re eager for more. Our goal is to help foster a wave of companies that make a measurable impact in the world, collectively improving the lives of everyone on the planet.
We invest $15,000 (Peru), €15,000 (Europe), or $20,000 (U.S.) into each company we invite to participate, using revenue-based equity, which aligns our interests with the founders, avoids any pressure to “sell out”, and lets us invest in just about any market segment and most any country in the world. Plus, we make introductions to impact investors and make follow-on investments from our family of seed funds.
Less than 2 months into beta, Trash Backwards is now being featured on the Data.gov website, a site created by the U.S./Federal Government as part of the Obama Administration to make government more transparent to its citizens. Trash Backwards is one of only two web-based applications featured on the site. In addition, the State of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental...
For news on sustainable, clean, green, conscious companies, visit BloomTimes.com If you are an entrepreneur with a story of such a company, submit a story about your company. Talk about your (potential) impact on the world, the problem you are solving, and how your company is unique. If you are an impact investor, submit a story about your investments. What made you excited about those companies...
Two moms have taken on a global problem, trash. Rebecca Rockefeller and Liesl Clark developed and launched a simple-to-use, colorful web app to help us reuse the stuff that is no longer needed around our homes and offices. The site includes a huge directory of reuse and upcycle tutorials, reliable articles and infographics, sustainable alternatives to common single-use plastics, local recycling...
The Washington Global Health Fund awarded two grants to two Washington-based companies making an impact across the “bottom billion” around the world. $120,000 was granted to BURN Design Lab, the non-profit sibling of BURN Manufacturing, one of the Fledge “fledglings” from this summer. According to Peter Scott, founder of BURN, this funding will permit BURN Design Lab to...
A big THANK YOU to all the applicants for the Winter 2013 program. It is amazing the breadth of “conscious” ideas that exist around the world. That breadth was augmented by applications from over a dozen countries worldwide, plus a similar number of US states and Canadian provinces. In fact, what is quite nice to see in this latest round of applications are the number of applicants...
It takes far more than a business incubator to create a thriving ecosystem…
More money than ever is flowing into impact investing, yet many entrepreneurs creating companies that serve the poor still find it difficult to raise capital, particularly at the early stages of their company’s growth. (Originally posted on the Stanford Social Innovation Review) Husk Power Systems, a growing social business, burns rice husks to generate power and provide electricity to low...
What other city has a Mayor who can tell a story in just five minutes?
Listen below to Mayor Mike McGinn at Ignite Seattle talk about Seattle, the city of the future. A talk not too much different from his opening remarks at #SocEnt Weekend: Next 50, and at the opening of the Center for Impact and Innovation.
UPDATE: The workshop is over. If you are interested in future workshops, contact us and let us know of your interest. Working on a startup idea but don’t know the first step? Or the next step? Did you just complete a Startup Weekend, #SocEnt Weekend or other hackathon and wondering what comes next? Have you thought of a must-have product or service, but have no idea how to get from idea to...
The past month in Seattle has seen an incredible surge of efforts around sustainable, conscious, impactful business. Showcased across four events, more than four dozen emerging, impactful, social enterprises have shared their stories with the city and with the world. The tsunami of activity began on September 23rd at the Fledge “Demo Day”, where seven “fledgling” companies shared their visions...