Acumen Fund

Acumen Fund was created based on the belief that the public sector alone won't solve large-scale problems of poverty. We have always been big believers in the power of markets, and in the early years of Acumen we and our investees steered clear of major government partnerships. Yet our thinking has changed as we've seen public agencies partner succ... essfully with our investees without distorting the market: international NGOs serving as core customers of needed products - like bednets - that don't have a ready market but which provide outsized benefits when distributed for free; government ministries setting up innovative subsidy schemes that allow fledgling businesses to get off the ground; and state governments becoming major customers for some of our most successful companies, providing the capital needed to scale while maintaining the core innovation and quality of service upon which the company was founded. We will often be disappointed if we expect governments to create new solutions. But the public sector is an integral partner when we look to scale what works. There is no currency like trust, and there are no shortcuts to earning it.Read More