From Risk to Reward
Lessons from Exiting Patient Capital Investments
Acumen made its first investment in India in 2004 and since then, we have disbursed over $35 million to 33 different organizations focused on impact-first enterprises addressing problems of poverty ranging from unsafe water to low quality housing to exploitative value chains.
In 2022 we saw evidence that our efforts are successful by negotiating profitable exits from three of our most impactful investments. These companies have reached widespread scale while delivering powerful impact, demonstrating the power of Patient Capital:
- Ziqitza Healthcare Limited (ZHL) is one of the leading emergency health service companies globally
- Greenway Grameen Infrastructure Limited (Greenway), India’s largest clean cookstoves company, has manufactured and sold almost two million wood cookstoves throughout southern India
- SEWA Grih Rin Limited (Sitara), a housing finance company that was created within the nonprofit organization Self Employed Women’s Alliance (SEWA), has financed the construction and/or extension of 15,000 homes
These exits demonstrate that Patient Capital is a viable, replicable, and deeply impactful model for addressing problems of poverty. Read more about these companies and how Acumen is building social change.
