November 5, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1WwRng7. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Michael “Luni” Libes is the social entrepreneurs’ social entrepreneur. He created Fledge, an accelerator for social entrepreneurs that has now helped to create over $10 million in total funding for it ventures since its founding in 2012. The problem, as Luni sees it, is all wrapped up in opportunity. “The trouble is, the problems of the world continue to expand, while the majority of the money, infrastructure, and power lie in the for-profit sector. If only businesses solved the important problems of the world, their success would lead to profits, scaling up those solutions, then more profits, more scaling, and so on, in a virtuous, self-sustaining cycle.” Luni boasts, “Thirty-nine ’fledglings’ have graduated from the six Fledge programs run over the last three years. Companies such as Evrnu, making cotton recyclable; BURN Manufacturing and Obamastove, manufacturing clean cookstoves in Africa; Distributed Energy Management, conserving energy through financial management; Ensibuuko, modernizing the savings and credit co-ops of East Africa; Seeder, matching green builders with green building suppliers; East Africa Fruit, aggregating and distributing fruits and vegetables in Tanzania, Deehubs, at the corner of free speech and social media; Shift Labs, designing medical devices for the developing world, and dozens of others.” Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1WwRng7. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.
#325: Seattle-Based Fledge Hatches 39 Social Ventures Or 'Fledglings'