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Patient Capital

Solar lamp representatives smile cheerfully at large function in India

We deploy philanthropic capital to high-innovation, high-impact enterprises that shape markets to break the cycle of poverty.

The power of patience

$ – 01 – 01 – 012345 M
deployed between 2001 and 2020
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companies invested in across 5 regions
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return on investment over 20 years

Where philanthropy and investing meet

A staggering 5.3 billion people still live in poverty, largely neglected by the marketplace. Philanthropy is critical for Patient Capital, allowing us to take outsized risk for outsized impact so that no one is left behind.

Thanks to its philanthropic nature, Patient Capital can experiment in markets with challenging operating environments, underdeveloped infrastructure, and weak currencies.

Watch the TED Talk

Host Jacqueline Novogratz speaks at TEDWomen 2017 — Bridges, November 1-3, 2017, Orpheum Theatre, New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: Stacie McChesney / TED

Capital that’s backed by philanthropy can transform markets.

Patient Capital is most successful when used to build untested, unproven markets or disrupt broken ones.

Acumen fellow Andres Felipe Gonzalez Espinosa sits on a sidewalk in a Colombian neighborhood
Course

Acumen’s Patient Capital: Lessons from 20 Years of Impact Investing

Investors can learn how to practice the principles of Patient Capital, including how to support social entrepreneurs on their journey to impact.

More about Acumen