The vision of Fridgi is to have more people smiling everyday through the celebration and display of more of their photos in their homes & workplaces. A good photo will always bring a smile to your face
“It's the journey that makes pursuing a dream worthwhile.”
Ian Craigie, 1996
The Fridgi Story
Fridgi founder Ian Craigie's lifelong dream is simple - to be a professional race driver. Aged 26, armed with $30
and a fascination for how a good simple photo can make a person smile, he started a business hoping it would one
day fund his dream. The result is Fridgi, and a range of simple products, with global appeal that Ian invented,
patented and originally made by hand on his parent's veranda.
Hundreds of thousands of
Fridgis now display photos in homes and offices around the world, generating millions of smiles every day. Ian still
dreams of competing in motor races and his is an inspiring story of entrepreneurial success fueled by a passion.
Ian Craigie packed over 1 million kgs of sand by hand to fund the start of his racing career. He worked at a gravel company
by day, studied a business degree by night and raced Go-Karts on the weekends, winning his first ever race. A
scholarship to work as a mechanic (unpaid) at the Spenard-David Race Driving school in Canada saw him working
on a fleet of Formula 2000 cars. In Canada he won in his first weekend racing F2000 cars and earned Rookie of
the Year in his first season.
Next it
was England, the hub of world motor sport, arriving with money for 1 race and a few weeks rent, he secured
a banking job to pay for racing, rent and food - in that order. Racing in the prestigious Jim Russell World Challenge,
Ian was leading when a major accident stopped the race as he glimpsed the chequered flag. With no time left on his visa
or money in the bank he returned to Australia. Determined & not beaten he tried another tact to fund his dream and
started Fridgi, building up the business while still aspiring to compete in the races he grew up watching as a boy
including Le Mans, Indianapolis & Bathurst.