Financials
Acumen financial overview
Acumen is a leading social impact investor combining the best of business and philanthropy
We report our statement of activities as a nonprofit, reflecting contributed revenues and expenses – program and administrative – each year. Unlike most charities, however, we invest a substantial portion of our assets in entrepreneurial businesses that serve the poor. These investments, conceptually equivalent to the grants made by other nonprofits, stay on our balance sheet and are not reflected as part of our program expenses on our statement of activities.
In 2022, Acumen raised $60.9 million in philanthropic capital, an increase of 112.1% from 2021. Acumen recognized non-cash revenue of $2.1 million for donated legal services and donated goods to support our investing work.
We received $0.1 million in interest income from portfolio loans and recorded a loss provision of $3.9 million for portfolio investment losses. Acumen carries our program investments at cost, and we lower these valuations when impairments exist. We review our portfolio of assets on an annual basis and apply a consistent valuation philosophy across the companies in our portfolio. Because we carry these investments at cost, we do not mark up our equity investments to fair market value, even when subsequent funding rounds imply an increase in the holding value of our investments. The only exception would be mark-ups related to orderly transactions of identical shares. Any other increase in value of equity investments would be recognized as realized gains or profits upon exit.
Operating expenses represent all the direct costs related to the running of Acumen programs as well as our management, general, and fundraising costs. They do not reflect any of our investments in our portfolio companies. Total expenses for 2022 were $32.7 million, a 6.5% increase compared to the prior year driven by additional headcount and research costs to support new programs.
Acumen’s total assets were $194.5 million as of December 31, 2022. Acumen’s assets are split primarily between Operating Assets ($106.2 million) and Portfolio Assets ($88.3 million). The largest component of our Operating Assets is our cash balance of $67.3 million, where $36.4 million (54.0%) of the total balance was restricted and designated for specific programmatic uses or for use as investment capital. Liabilities at the end of 2022 totaled $12.7 million, comprising unearned revenue from conditional grants and returnable grants used for portfolio investments under the East Africa Education Initiative. Net assets at the end of the year were $181.8 million compared to $149.8 million at the end of 2021 – a 21.3% increase.