Skip to content

Category: Uncategorized

Making Money Work: The State of Off-Grid Investing

At Acumen’s Energy Summit in London, we chatted with sector experts about the current state of investing in off-grid energy. Collectively, we examined the types of capital required to scale off-grid energy companies and the magnitude of investment needed to achieve universal energy access. Led by Daniel Goldfarb, CEO of Lendable, and Amar Inamdar, Managing … Continued

The Next Wave of Energy Enterprises: Innovation through Business Evolution

We recently asked a group of off-grid energy experts, including our entrepreneurs and other industry leaders, where they are seeing truly new, groundbreaking innovations in sales, distribution and financing? While we were hoping for an example of true invention, what we’ve learned is that the frontiers of innovation in off-grid energy are currently found in … Continued

All Eyes on West Africa

When Acumen first began investing in West Africa in 2011, we believed that many of the business models, products and services would translate from East Africa. Overcoming contextual differences, such as access to mobile money and a willingness to pay, was tougher than we thought especially when it came to the energy sector. That, however, … Continued

Solar Home Systems: Over-investment or overvaluation?

When you hear the term “unicorn,” you usually think of Silicon Valley. Your mind goes to companies like AirBnB and Snapchat, startups that seem to grow from zero to $1 billon overnight, not to social enterprises trying to bring energy to the poor. But we’re seeing a trend emerge in the off-grid sector, in which … Continued

Skills Partnerships: Start with Listening

The relationship between the social sector and the corporate world is complex. Skills Partnerships have emerged as a way of engaging both sectors. This form of engagement may have started with activities like leveraging a corporation’s expansive workforce to build a house for the homeless or help underprivileged students with their resumes, but it has … Continued

Un enfoque diferente para la creación de valor social

Todo comenzó solidarizándose con los menos favorecidos… Cuando iniciamos este proceso en el 2001, el mundo era distinto. Pocos habían oído hablar de capital paciente o de inversión de impacto. Decidimos cuestionar el statu quo y crear una nueva clase de institución, una que redujera la distancia entre el impacto social de la filantropía pura … Continued