In this video, Startup Factory Ethiopia cofounder Thomas Ferede (MBA 2009) explains the mission of his organization—and how the HBS network has helped further its goals.

“So Startup Factory Ethiopia is a venture builder. We wanted to create inspirational companies for the next generation of young people in Ethiopia. What we want to do is give people a vision of what business is supposed to be. Business as we know it in Ethiopia is very transactional, very short-termist. We wanted to show people that you can build companies that have vision, that have values, and can have a tremendous impact on the country overall.

“And we really understood why companies weren't scaling, and why they weren't growing, and why people were actually having trouble even starting businesses. So we provide a suite of services to any company that we start, anything from business plan slash market understanding, to bringing the right type of HR and systems and finance systems to those companies. And finally, really helping them raise capital.

“Capital is really looking to enter Ethiopia as it opens up as we speak. But the issue is that they're having a difficult time finding quality companies of any scale. We’re really trying to address some of these problems in a holistic fashion.

“The opportunities for women-led ventures in Ethiopia are massive. But if you look at the business community, I'd say less than 10% of the ventures are women-led. And it started with our own selves. So our CEO is a woman who was raised in Ethiopia and understands the market quite well. And so through her, we're able to access women entrepreneurs and women CEOs that we want to work with.

“Our prime minister recently achieved gender parity of close to 50% of his cabinet. So we call this really the decade, probably, of women in the country, so we're very excited about it.

“I've never been an entrepreneur. And it wasn't until after HBS that I really seriously looked at entrepreneurship as being a real option for myself. So it gave me a lot of tools in my war chest that I still apply to this day when I encounter different business problems, number one.

“Number two, the alumni, the network, is unparalleled as we all know. So as investors start looking at Ethiopia and foreign companies look at investing there, I'm getting a lot of inbound inquiries about the country. And in fact, one of our business partners is an HBS alum that graduated close to 30, 40 years ago. And he reached out to me, out of the blue, through the HBS network. And he was one of the senior partners and MDs at Bain close to 20 years ago. Through him, we've been getting access to a lot of foreign companies that are looking at the market. And between our experience on the ground and his relationships, it's really helping to open up the market in a big way.”

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