Babson Alumna Emily Lagasse M’15 Featured in PBS Television series – START UP
Emily Lagasse M’15, Founder of Fedwell, is being showcased in START UP – a PBS television series showcasing real stories of entrepreneurs across the country.
“Energetic, inspirational, and educational, START UP is a fast paced new series sure to capture the imagination and hearts of the nearly 50% of Americans who dream of starting their own business,” said the show’s host, creator, and producer – Gary Bredow.
During the series, Bredow travels nationwide to interview over 26 small business owners and hear their personal stories about what it really takes to start a successful business from the ground up.
Emily’s episode, #308 “Wake up and Smell the Dog Food”, will air locally this Sunday, November 22 in Boston on WGBH-TV, channel 2. The show currently draws over 15 million viewers annually, and airs across the country on PBS.
About Emily Lagasse and Fedwell
Fedwell brings home-cooked dog food to the market in a convenient format. Unlike traditional dog food that is made from poor-quality ingredients and is heavily processed, Fedwell takes home-cooked recipes and bakes them at low temperatures to preserve nutrients. Fedwell’s food is made from the highest-quality ingredients, is grain, soy, and corn-free and is also free of synthetic materials (like added vitamins and minerals).
In 2013, Emily was the grand prize winner of the Female Entrepreneurship Challenge, sponsored by Care.com, from which she earned over $30,000 in cash and non-cash prizes. She was also a semi-finalist in Babson’s 2014 B.E.T.A Challenge.
That same year, Emily entered the market with her first product, a 5lb bag of oven-baked lamb kibble. It was carried in 14 stores in Massachusetts, and sold online. She also launched a successful Fedwell Kickstarter campaign, backed by over 200 people, and raised over $20,000 to help fund production.
In 2015, Fedwell was named one of Inc. magazine’s ‘Coolest College Startups’.
Fedwell has most recently partnered with a manufacturer in the Southwest, has gone to production with its new and improved lamb recipe, and has also introduced a chicken recipe. Both are carried in 3 size bags: 5lb, 13lb, and 25lb. All are sold online at Fedwell.com, and Emily is in the process of getting her products into 50 stores in the Northeast.