When investing in companies, Acumen measures success by the number of lives made in markets at the bottom of the pyramid. For them, success correlates with the social change that is happening in people`s lives. For example, if Acumen wants to invest in a company that manufactures and distributes malaria nets, Acumen uses numbers to measure the social impact of that company. This means that the more malaria nets are produced and distributed, the more impact the company has. When a company builds toilets and showers in urban slums and business districts, the success of that investment is measured by the frequency of use of toilets and showers. [11] PEG Africa: In 2017, Acumen invested in PEG Africa, the leading distributor of solar home systems in West Africa. Founded in Ghana in 2015, PEG Africa now serves customers in Ghana, Côte d`Ivoire and Senegal, providing affordable solar products to those without grid access. The challenges of this initiative include the difficulties of accessing and introducing useful agricultural innovations, as well as the challenge of the company to provide them while remaining profitable. This partnership helps address these challenges by developing replicable models to scale up the adoption of agricultural innovation. [19] Acumen (formerly known as the Acumen Fund, legally Acumen Fund, Inc.) [1] is a not-for-profit mutual fund focused on investing in social enterprises that serve low-income individuals in the United States.
[2] [3] Acumen was founded in April 2001 by Jacqueline Novogratz. It aims to show that small amounts of philanthropic capital combined with business acumen can lead to successful businesses that serve large numbers of the poor. [4] Over the years, Acumen has invested $115 million in 113 companies and has a proven track record of researching and implementing investment opportunities in the clean energy, healthcare and agriculture sectors. [5] PATIENT CAPITAL THAT DARES TO GO WHERE MARKETS HAVE FALLEN SHORT Acumen, LLC, in partnership with its subsidiary, The SPHERE Institute, provides policymakers with a powerful policy analysis capacity that provides specific, unbiased advice and context for policy debate. This website is best experienced in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. In December 2013, LifeSpring Hospitals decided to raise $3.2 million to fund its expansion plan and establish another maternity hospital. [24] At Acumen, we develop targeted treatments for Alzheimer`s disease that help patients capture their moments and create new ones. LifeSpring Hospitals is a joint venture between Acumen and Hindustan Latex Limited to provide women with a cheaper and accessible way to give birth. It all started in 2005 when Anant Kumar, CEO of HLL (now known as HLL Lifecare), visited hospitals to talk to women about family planning practices and contraceptives. Kumar found that most women were dissatisfied with the level of care in public hospitals, some were so frustrated that they took out loans to fund visits to private institutions.
[20] Kumar came up with the idea of opening a high-quality maternal care facility for low-income families in Hyderabad`s sprawling urban slums. The concept involved the provision of high-quality prenatal and postnatal health services at a price of 50-70% of the price of private clinics. The concept was well received by the poor and expanded to nine hospitals in low-income areas in 2009. The narrow specialization in maternal health care has helped reduce costs and increase productivity at the sites. By limiting capital expenditures such as renting hospital buildings with multi-year leases, outsourcing pharmacy and laboratory services, and reducing the amount of machinery needed for a safe normal delivery, LifeSpring Hospitals has reduced costs to make them accessible to the poor. [21] [22] We founded Acumen Capital Partners to structure and manage funds that fill a critical gap that exists for social enterprises. As an evolution of Acumen`s investment model, ACP helps established high-potential companies catalyze scalable solutions that generate social and financial returns. Our work reflects our belief that policy makers, health care providers and the public should have the best available information on which to base their decisions. Through its process-driven model, LifeSpring has filled a gap in the Indian healthcare landscape.
Its development objectives are to reduce maternal and infant mortality while ensuring financial sustainability. It ensures that more babies are born to qualified doctors than at home in high-risk situations. The additional income from childbirth is attributable to family planning services, consultation fees and rents from outsourced laboratories and pharmacies. [23] In 2015, Acumen, Unilever and the Clinton Guistra Enterprise Partnership, part of the Clinton Foundation, launched an initiative called the Enhanced Livelihood Investment Initiative to improve the lives of farmers and their communities in Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The initiative includes a commitment of $10 million over 3 years to improve farmers` economies by creating and enhancing private businesses that connect farmers to Unilever`s global supply chain and distribution network. This increases and preserves the social and economic impact of these companies. [18] WE BELIEVE THAT EVERY PERSON DESERVES TO LIVE IN DIGNITY The work of Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO and founder of Acumen, began in 1986 when she quit her job on Wall Street to open Rwanda`s first microfinance institution, Duterimbere, an experience that inspired her to found Acumen. When she founded Acumen in 2001, few people had heard of the words impact investing. Acumen measures immediate production and takes it into account when looking for companies to invest in, but does not focus on whether these social changes help reduce malaria or improve health and the environment. Former CEO Brian Trelstad argues that the latter approach is complicated, expensive and impractical for emerging companies. Instead, insight measures between production and effect, i.e.
the distribution of mosquito nets to reduce malaria. [12] Acumen was founded in 2001 by Jacqueline Novogratz with seed funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundations, and three individual philanthropists. [6] Acumen uses a commercial poverty reduction mechanism and invests in for-profit companies that treat the poor as customers. [7] We invest in start-ups whose products and services enable poor people to transform their lives. We also support our businesses with the tools, networks, technical assistance and strategic advice needed to succeed and develop long-term solutions to poverty. Acumen, LLC conducts policy research in support of federal, state, and local health and social policy programs. We use our vast data resources to improve the information available to decision-makers on issues such as drug and vaccine safety. health insurance markets; value-based procurement; and health care fraud.
Our mission is to improve the information available to decision-makers designing health, wellness, education and work programs at all levels of government. We are an organization that attracts, develops, excites and retains exceptional people. In 2004, Acumen invested in WaterHealth International, a for-profit organization that provides clean water to the poor in rural India, Ghana and the Philippines. Acumen partners with the World Bank`s International Finance Corporation and the Dow Chemical Venture Fund to provide clean drinking water to rural populations in third world countries while generating a substantial gross margin that keeps these hybrid companies running. [10] Insight means sharpness and depth of perception. That`s exactly what we are: an experienced and persistent team focused solely on developing targeted therapies for a disease that has been incurable for too long. We provide unbiased, data-driven analysis to government agencies to inform health and social policy. Acumen Academy is the global school of social change Learn about our policy research and technical support capabilities.