Fledge

Update on 21 August 2023:

Kiva and Fledge have agreed to end their partnership after more than $25,000 in loans raised. This partner has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank Fledge for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.

Update 7 December 2017: Kiva has moved this Lending Partner to inactive status. This means Fledge is no longer fundraising loans on Kiva, though Kiva fully expects the partner to continue to send repayments owed to Kiva lenders for as long as the partner has an outstanding balance. The reasons a partner might become inactive include: taking time to develop a new type of loan, turnover on the partner’s management team, a shift in overall strategy or changes in funding sources. If and when this partner requests to fundraise again on Kiva, Kiva will first conduct any additional monitoring and due diligence tasks we believe necessary.

Fledge is a U.S.-based, for-profit social enterprise, operating a business accelerator focused on socially and environmentally conscious startups, worldwide.

This takes the form of an intense, 10-week program, inviting 5-8 early-stage companies per session to their co-working space within Impact Hub Seattle. During these 10 weeks, the “fledglings” are taught the best practices of entrepreneurship, meet with dozens of experienced mentors, work together to solve common issues, and present their stories in front of an audience of hundreds.

Like many other business accelerators, Fledge pays its participants, US$15,000 per company. Unlike other accelerators, this investment is structured as a unique, revenue-based equity investment.

A unique lending approach:

Funding on Kiva will help Fledge fulfill its mission by helping their graduates push through the pioneer gap – the point at which companies have proven a demand for their product or service, but lack the funding required to reach enough customers or investors.

Most of the loans will fall within the $5,000 to $20,000 range - enough to help entrepreneurs reach sufficient scale to attract other investors. On a case-by-case basis, Fledge will determine the size of the loans by balancing the capital needs of the borrowers with their ability to repay the loans.