The worst part about running Fledge has been turning away the hundreds of entrepreneurs seeking help. For Fledge6 (Spring 2015), this would have been more than 95% of all applicants, over 150 teams including hundreds of entrepreneurs from 45 countries. To fix this problem, Fledge is announcing FledgeX. Our new Autumn program, bringing our full-scale, best-of-breed conscious company accelerator...
It is application season here again at Fledge, and with it, dozens of repeats of a very common first-time entrepreneurial mistake. A grand vision with multiple components, which as a whole, all implemented, all popular, would solve some problem or simply make people’s lives better. To the ears of the entrepreneur, it sounds wonderful. To anyone who doesn’t review hundreds of business plans each...
The selection criteria at Fledge, the conscious company accelerator, are easy to explain. 1) Team, 2) Impact, and 3) Odds of success. The subtleties within each of these concepts and the whole selection process takes a bit more explanation: 1. Team Unlike most other accelerators focused on social good, Fledge is, behind-the-scenes, a for-profit impact investment fund. We invest...
Stacy Flynn of Evrnu stepped up in front of a crowd of 700+ people at the Social Venture Partners’ Fast Pitch Seattle competition tonight, along with 14 other nonprofit and for-profit innovators, and blew them all away, walking home not only with a $140,000 investment (by far the biggest prize of the event), but also with the Audience Choice award of $3,500 in cash. Fledge, the fledglings...
Watch the Fledge5 “Demo Day” video: Seven inspirational, mission-driven, for-profit companies, aiming to improve the world in seven ways: Making cotton recyclable Making digital billboards social Making China’s buildings greener Bringing affordable, clean-burning cookstoves to every Ethiopian Bringing transparency to government Bringing fresh escargot to America Hoisting Kenya...
The B Corp Best for the World List recognizes those companies creating the most impact for a better world. Once again, Fledge has been recognized as one of the Best for Community Impact.
If you missed the Fledge4 “Demo Day”, no worries, watch it online anytime… featuring: Activate Hub – An online tool for finding the people, organizations and events that impact your community, offline. Broad Street Maps – Bringing mapping solutions to global health organizations Distributed Energy Management – A unique approach to energy conservation EA Fruits...
Originally posted at GoGreen Seattle Our team met up with Michael “Luni” Libes for a one on one interview to find out more about the successful entrepreneur and the driving force behind Fledge. Read along to find out more about what inspires Luni to support young entrepreneurs and how the the “conscious company” accelerator is helping entrepreneurs who are bringing products and services to the...
Seattle Leads the Way in Social Entrepreneurship Doing good and doing business, in the minds of many, are two separate things. But there’s a growing movement to change that, and Seattle is at the forefront of it. This change is being fueled by people who have a new vision for business. One that focuses not just on the bottom line, but on what’s called the triple bottom line: profit, people and...