Acumen Fund Inc

Acumen's mission is to change the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, leaders and ideas. Acumen invests patient, long-term capital in innovative and sustainable startups that deliver critical goods and services to the world's poor. Since 2001, we have invested $106 million in 96 companies that have attracted more than $522 million in follow-on capital and impacted 200 million lives. We work closely with our companies to help them overcome challenges and listen closely to customer feedback through our Lean Data work. Acumen also works to build a global community of emerging leaders that believe in creating a more inclusive world through the tools of both business and philanthropy. Since 2006, we have built a global community of more than 340 Fellows to support the next generation of leadership. We are partnering with great companies like Unilever, GE, IKEA Foundation, EY and Bain that understand the need for more inclusive business models. We have begun to share what we are learning through +Acumen, an online platform to help move ideas into action that has seen more than 400,000 sign-ups across 175 countries. Please visit www.acumen.org for more information.

Investing and portfolio management: Acumen invests patient capital in business models that deliver critical, affordable goods and services to the world's poor, improving the lives of millions. Since 2001, Acumen has invested in businesses that provide access to health care, energy, education, water & sanitation, housing, financial services, and agricultural services to low-income customers. Our investments are addressing the problems of poverty in East and West Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the United States. Acumen invested in eight new companies in 2018, reaching a cumulative $117 million invested in 116 businesses serving the poor. Acumen's patient capital approach yielded exits across our pioneer portfolio this year. Our long-time clean energy investee D.Light Design closed $41 million in a series E equity raise, allowing Acumen to exit its series A shares; poultry farming investee EthioChicken repaid its loan to Acumen three years ahead of schedule with outsized social impact; and Acumen exited the flagship project of affordable housing investee Ansaar Management Company in Pakistan. These exits serve as proof of Acumen's ability to recycle returns from its investments and of the importance of philanthropically backed patient capital to grow our companies over time. Along with new investments and exits, post-investment support has continued to be a key priority for Acumen. In the first quarter of this year, our team conducted annual reviews for all portfolio companies to measure actual performance against social and financial impact targets and develop detailed post-investment engagement plans outlining the support required by Acumen to help the companies grow. Acumen also directly supported companies in 2018 through our participation on 51 company boards, providing 12 new technical assistance grants allowing companies to experiment with high-impact projects and products and hosting two investee capacity-building seminars.