Bali Devi is a 56-year-old woman living with a family of six in Jaipur, northern India. She is a widowed mother of two sons who runs a small makeshift shop in the front portion of her house. Her daughter-in-law makes a small earning by stitching sari borders for women in her locality. Both are part … Continued
Globally, 733 million people still lack access to electricity. Although many will gain energy access in the coming years, research shows that, with a growing population, business-as-usual solutions will leave behind more than 600 million people by 2030, 85% of whom will be in Africa. The off-grid solar sector can fill this gap. For over … Continued
Acumen has invested in Gram Vaani — a community-led, hyperlocal, and two-way participatory mobile platform that amplifies the voices of underserved populations in India. The Challenge: Information Inequality is Holding Back Marginalized Communities Ensuring access to information is essential for citizen engagement, empowerment, and holding those in power accountable. While the internet and smartphones have … Continued
By Paraag Sabhlok, Associate Director, Portfolio; Coco Lim, Senior Associate, Insights & Strategy; and Yash Vardhan Gaddhyan, Portfolio Analyst For years, Nidhi Pant held the perception that farmers were predominantly male. But as she and the other founders of the company, S4S, spent more time in India’s villages, they witnessed a large number of women … Continued
Everything you touch or do today, every bite of food, every piece of clothing, every trip to the store, takes energy. It is essential to economic production; it literally fuels progress. But the opposite is also true. Without abundant, affordable energy, there is no modern agriculture, no efficient transportation, no way of linking villages and … Continued
Acumen has invested in CropSafe — a social enterprise supporting smallholder farmers by minimizing post-harvest losses and providing access to local and international markets.
Para trabajar en impacto social, es necesario comprender y abrazar la belleza de la lucha para encontrar la motivación necesaria y seguir el camino que lleva a cambios sostenibles. Al fin y al cabo, el cambio social requiere tiempo, paciencia y aferrarse a una esperanza de hierro para superar fracasos o adversidades que se puedan … Continued
Acumen, in partnership with Loughborough University under the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) program, which is funded by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), announced the release of a new report—Recipe for Success: Lessons from Acumen’s Cookstoves Investments. The last decade has seen the beginnings of a revolution in cooking for people … Continued