Proud to see soleRebels founder & CEO named winner of the FACE Award for Entrepreneurship! Posted on 20 Jun 10:52

Fast Company Magazine names soleRebels founder & CEO Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu to their Most Creative People in Business 1000. Posted on 29 Jan 13:34

Women Fair Trade Leaders Awarded: Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu Posted on 7 Jan 11:40

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg names Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu as 2012 NYC Venture Fellow Posted on 17 Nov 20:32

New York City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has selected bethlehem tilahun alemu as a NYC Venture Fellow in recognition of her extraordinary achievements as a global entrepreneur.

“This is really exciting. New York is a global business hub and I am really excited to be receiving this distinguished fellowship from Mayor Bloomberg,” said Bethlehem on hearing of the news of her award.

Each year, 20-30 “rising star” entrepreneurs from New York City and around the world are selected through a competitive nomination process and a distinguished selection committee including:

• Lawrence Lenihan, CEO and Managing Director of FirstMark Capital,
• Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., President of Fordham University,
• Emily Rafferty, President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
• Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group,
• Fred Wilson, Managing Partner of Union Square Ventures.

NYC Venture Fellows is a component of Mayor Bloomberg’s initiatives to develop and diversify the New York City Economy. The program was developed by the Center for Economic Transformation at New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) in conjunction with Fordham University. It is a highly selective, international program to help successful entrepreneurs take their ventures to the next level. Established by NYCEDC in conjunction with Fordham University, the program is designed to:

• Assist successful entrepreneurs in scaling ventures that have the potential to create jobs in NYC
• Encourage successful global entrepreneurs to open offices in NYC
• Build connections among entrepreneurs, established NYC companies, and international businesses

“No matter the buzz or early accolades, the transition from promising young startup business to successful leading company can be extremely difficult. We want to make it easier for entrepreneurs to succeed, and when they do, we want them to succeed in New York City,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The NYC Venture Fellows capitalizes on the willingness of accomplished business leaders to help the next generation of global entrepreneurs make it and to help New York City.”

Venture Fellows are provided with one-on-one mentorship from leading NYC and global executives to assist them in achieving the next stage of growth for their company and personal careers and provide counsel on issues specific to each fellow’s business. Fellows and mentors will meet regularly over the course of the year with extra guidance at critical moments, such as when a venture is nearing an acquisition or Initial Public Offering or to draw on the experience of the mentors and hear best practices on how to maintain company culture during periods of rapid growth. Mentors are executives and leaders of world-class organizations such as LVMH, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Lord & Taylor, MTV, NBC Universal, venture capital firms, universities, and more. Each Fellow is matched with team of advisors and counselors that may include serial entrepreneurs, other CEOs and investors.

The NYC Venture Fellow program lasts for one year and all activities are designed to enhance participants’ skills, build professional networks, and provide resources to grow scalable businesses. Following completion of the one-year program, NYC Venture Fellows will remain engaged and connected through an alumni network.

About NYCEDC
New York City Economic Development Corporation is the City’s primary vehicle for promoting economic growth. The Center for Economic Transformation (CET) at NYCEDC aims to develop the City’s major business sectors by implementing policy and programmatic initiatives that address current issues faced by each industry, create good jobs, and promote entrepreneurship and economic diversification across the five boroughs.

About Fordham University
Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to approximately 14,700 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in Westchester, and the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y.

Most Valuable Entrepreneur (MVE) Award Posted on 16 Nov 08:28

Yesterday I had the great honor of being been awarded the prestigious Most Valuable Entrepreneur (MVE) award during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011 events taking place here in Addis this week.

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011 is the world's largest celebration of entrepreneurship, and features millions of people participating in thousands of events in more than 100 countries and all 50 United States. Events are held November 14-20, 2011, to celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity. Now in its fourth year, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) brings together aspiring and inspiring entrepreneurs, helping them embrace originality, imagination and ingenuity through local, national and global activities.

The Most Valuable Entrepreneur (MVE) award is given to one Entrepreneur a year in the context of Global Entrepreneurship Week. The Award was given to me during a panel seminar at the Addis Ababa University Faculty of Business and Economics. The audience was comprised of up-and-coming business and economic students [ both under graduate and post graduate ], faculty, and assorted big wigs including those from the Global Entrepreneurship Week committee, all very excited to hear about what entrepreneurship can do to further enhance Ethiopia’s development.

I spoke about the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship that I had experienced in building soleRebels into the planet's fastest growing African Footwear brand!

I also discussed the idea that being a successful entrepreneur is not simply about hard work. Its also about having good fortune [ too often we underestimate the role good fortune plays in ALL our success ] and also about having a great team beside you!!! These multiple factors, I explained, have allowed me to build what I have built so far and will allow me to take soleRebels to the next level.

And really That is the true power of entrepreneurship - it involves not only an idea and a single person, but also those who will follow that idea, dedicate themselves to it and make it a living and breathing reality. It is within this process that greater shared prosperity for the many can be achieved.

My final thought to the audience was that in the near future I hoped to hear that people from that room were now leading their very own companies that were creating world class products and well paying jobs! Because After all isn’t that every entrepreneurs dream!!!

Build your dreams . Spread the wealth.

bethlehem

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu wins Most Valuable Entrepreneur award at 2011 Global Entrepreneurship Week [GEW] Posted on 15 Nov 22:44

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder & managing director of soleRebels, Africa’s fastest growing footwear brand, has been awarded the prestigious Most Valuable Entrepreneur (MVE) award during a special event at the 2011 Global Entrepreneurship Week [GEW] in Ethiopia.

 “I am honored to be given this award. I accept it with the full knowledge that not simply hard work, but good fortune and having a great team beside me, have allowed me to achieve my dreams. That is the true power of entrepreneurship - it involves not only an idea and a single person, but also those who will follow that idea, dedicate themselves to it and make it a living and breathing reality. It is within this process that greater shared prosperity for the many can be achieved.”

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011, the world's largest celebration of entrepreneurship, features millions of people participating in thousands of events in more than 100 countries and all 50 United States. Events are held November 14-20, 2011, to celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity. Now in its fourth year, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) will bring together aspiring and inspiring entrepreneurs, helping them embrace originality, imagination and ingenuity through local, national and global activities.

GEW has grown exponentially since its inaugural event in 2008. Last year more than 7.5 million people took part in an estimated 37,000 events across 104 countries and this year more than 10 million people in 102 countries are expected to participate. Co-founded by the Kauffman Foundation and Enterprise UK, a business-led, government-backed campaign in the United Kingdom, GEW helps develop young people's knowledge, skills and networks to inspire them to grow sustainable enterprises. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and others will participate in a host of activities that are virtual and face-to-face events, large-scale competitions and intimate networking gatherings.

Ethiopia joins 119 nations to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship week from November 14 to 20. Michael Fekade, Chief Executive Officer of Empact Capital Partners, LLC, the host of the weeklong event, says it will give young people an opportunity to network. Aspiring entrepreneurs will be encouraged to foster creativity to build businesses.

Bethlehem received the award in front of a packed audience of over 300 at the GEW Ethiopia forum on "Entrepreneurship in Ethiopia" , held today at Addis Ababa University .

Addis Ababa University Faculty of Business and Economics hosted this event where Bethlehem spoke alongside fellow Ethiopian entrepreneurs Ermias Amelga founder of Access Capital , about the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship based on their personal stories and experiences. Girma Wolde-Giorgis, the president of Ethiopia, expressed his excitement for the country's first-ever celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

soleRebels reaches FINALS in 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Posted on 31 Oct 20:23

Company founder Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu to Nairobi to give final presentation to elite panel of judges headed by VIRGIN founder Sir Richard Branson.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – soleRebels Africa’s fastest growing footwear brand has bested well over 3000 top level African companies and reached the finals of the prestigious 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship!

Company founder and managing director Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu will now head to Nairobi, Kenya on December 8th, 2011 to give a final presentation in front of an elite panel of judges headed by VIRGIN founder Sir Richard Branson.

The Awards, dubbed the Nobel of Business Awards in Africa, honors Africa’s best entrepreneurs who work to create businesses that meet the needs of those around them and by doing so raise the living standards of their communities while also creating something of lasting value for themselves, their employees, their communities and their nations and rewards them with prizes of $350,000. “At our core we at soleRebels are creative artisans who aim to craft the coolest and most comfortable footwear. We do this by combining our heritage artisan crafts with modern design sensibilities, while pouring our creative selves into our shoes. The final result is that when our footwear is bought, the purchaser can SEE, FEEL and enjoy all the elements of heart, soul and creative craftsmanship that have gone into their construction. We are deeply proud that that this ethos has carried us to the finals of this amazing competition!” stated Bethlehem.

The Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship is owned and founded by Legatum, a private investment group, based in Dubai, with a twenty-five year heritage of global investing. They manage a multi-billion dollar fund of proprietary capital which is allocated to businesses and programmes that promote sustainable development.

Legatum is joined by Omidyar Network as a major sponsor of the 2011 Africa Awards. Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $400 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including microfinance, property rights, government transparency, and social media.

“This years Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship received more than 3,300 applications from top companies in 48 African countries, the most ever received. soleRebels selection as a finalist puts the company into an elite category of achievement”, commented Hamish Banks, Head of Corporate Communications for Legatum.

Google is also a partner of the 2011 Africa Awards . Their mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Google's strategy in Africa is to get more users online by developing an accessible, relevant and sustainable internet ecosystem.

• Reducing access as a barrier to all potential users
• Making the Internet relevant and useful to Africans
• Helping strengthen an Internet ecosystem in Africa that is vibrant, and sustainable and self-sufficient in the long-term

The Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship is collaborating with Google in exploring a number of initiatives to promote African entrepreneurship within the scope of the Africa Awards programme.

soleRebels reaches FINAL 15 in 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Posted on 11 Oct 21:40

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – soleRebels, Africa’s fastest growing footwear brand, has inched one step closer to the prestigious 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship with its selection to THE FINAL 15 companies who will proceed to the final round of judging.

“At our core, we at soleRebels are creative artisans who aim to craft the coolest and most comfortable footwear. We do this by combining our heritage artisan crafts with modern design sensibilities, while pouring our creative selves into our shoes. The final result is that when our footwear is bought, the purchaser can SEE, FEEL and enjoy all the elements of heart, soul and creative craftsmanship that have gone into their construction. We are deeply proud that that this ethos has carried us to the top 15 of this amazing competition!” stated soleRebels founder and managing director Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu.

The Awards, dubbed the Nobel of Business Awards in Africa, honors Africa’s best entrepreneurs who work to create businesses that meet the needs of those around them and by doing so raise the living standards of their communities while also creating something of lasting value for themselves, their employees, their communities and their nations and rewards them with prizes of $350,000.

This years Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship received more than 3,300 applications from top companies in 48 African countries, the most ever received. soleRebels selection to the final 15 puts it into an elite category of achievement for the companies selected.

The Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship is owned and founded by Legatum a private investment group, based in Dubai, with a twenty-five year heritage of global investing. They manage a multi-billion dollar fund of proprietary capital which is allocated to businesses and programmes that promote sustainable development.

Legatum is joined by Omidyar Network as a major sponsor of the 2011 Africa Awards. Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $400 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including microfinance, property rights, government transparency, and social media. To learn more, visit www.omidyar.com.

Google is also a partner of the 2011 Africa Awards. Their mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Google's strategy in Africa is to get more users online by developing an accessible, relevant and sustainable internet ecosystem.

• Reducing access as a barrier to all potential users
• Making the Internet relevant and useful to Africans
• Helping strengthen an Internet ecosystem in Africa that is vibrant, and sustainable and self-sufficient in the long-term

The Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship is collaborating with Google in exploring a number of initiatives to promote African entrepreneurship within the scope of the Africa Awards programme.

Ten Finalists will be honored at this year's invitation-only Gala Awards that will take place on December 8th, 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Gala Awards event will lead into a high-profile conference on entrepreneurship - CONVERGENCE Africa, which will be addressed by business luminaries like Sir Richard Branson. One Grand Prize winner will receive US $100,000 to invest back into the business and employees, and five others will receive awards of US $50,000.

soleRebels selected to the TOP 30 in 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Posted on 26 Sep 07:27

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – soleRebels, Africa’s fastest growing footwear brand, has been selected as one of the top 30 companies to proceed to the next round of judging in the 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship.

This year's Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship received more than 3,300 applications from top companies in 48 African countries, making selection to the top 30 an already elite category of achievement for the companies selected. The top 30 will be judged again and the Africa Awards will then announce their top 15!!!

The Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship is owned and founded by Legatum a private investment group, based in Dubai, with a twenty-five year heritage of global investing. they manage a multi-billion dollar fund of proprietary capital which is allocated to businesses and programmes that promote sustainable development.

“I am absolutely elated that we have reached the top 30. In itself speaks to the amazing work we have accomplished as a team and the immense potential this company and our brand has,” stated soleRebels founder and managing director Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu.

Legatum is joined by Omidyar Network as a major sponsor of the 2011 Africa Awards. Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $400 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including microfinance, property rights, government transparency, and social media. To learn more, visit www.omidyar.com.

Google is also a partner of the 2011 Africa Awards. Their mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Google's strategy in Africa is to get more users online by developing an accessible, relevant, and sustainable internet ecosystem.

• Reducing access as a barrier to all potential users
• Making the Internet relevant and useful to Africans
• Helping strengthen an Internet ecosystem in Africa that is vibrant, sustainable, and self-sufficient in the long-term
• The Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship is collaborating with Google in exploring a number of initiatives to promote African entrepreneurship within the scope of the Africa Awards programme.

Ten Finalists will be honored at this year's invitation-only Gala Awards attended by Africa's business leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and international media. One Grand Prize winner will receive US $100,000 to invest back into the business and employees, and five others will receive awards of US$50,000.

soleRebels a Featured Entrepreneur by the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Posted on 19 Jul 08:08

We are honored the Africa Awards announced soleRebels as a FEATURED ENTREPRENEUR this week! See what they had to say about soleRebels below:

"The company’s business model, product design, quality and global success has attracted strong interest from international media. The Guardian Newspaper in the UK recently featured soleRebels in an article entitled "Ethiopia firm recycling tyres into shoes does big business via internet" while the web's leading eco-fashion report dubbed the company the "most fabulous eco shoemaker on the planet" and DISCOVERY CHANNEL presenter Summer Rayne Oakes named soleRebels the "world's coolest fair trade brand"."