Fledge is a venture capital and accelerator firm founded in 2012 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with additional offices in Lima, Peru, and Barcelona, Spain. The firm specializes in supporting mission-driven for-profit startups that address significant global challenges such as poverty, hunger, sustainability, and inequality through innovative business models. Fledge operates a network of business accelerators worldwide, each tailored to the specific needs of local entrepreneurs and the unique problems they aim to solve. Through its ten-week program, Fledge provides seed-stage companies with investment ranging from $15,000 to $20,000 for a six percent equity stake. The firm is committed to fostering impactful startups, offering various programs including those focused on cooperative businesses and opportunities for companies looking to relocate to Canada.
Obamastove was founded in 2007 by an Ethopian refugee, who as a teenager was saved from the fighting and famine at home, fled to Kenya and then was brought to the United States. Rather than remitting cash back to his family, as is the norm, he decided to set up a cookstove company, creating jobs and income for his whole community. Seven years later, the company has grown beyond everyone’s vision, manufactured and selling tens of thousands of stoves per year, over 200,000 in total. Based around a great product which customers love, this bootstrapped, grass-roots business is most certainly the largest cookstove company in Ethiopia, and may just be the largest cookstove company in all of Africa.
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