Acumen

Founded in 2001, Acumen Fund is a global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. We seek to prove that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor. Our investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services - like health, water, housing and energy - through innovative, market-oriented approaches. We believe that pioneering entrepreneurs will ultimately find the solutions to poverty. We use philanthropic capital to make disciplined investments - loans or equity, not grants -that yield both financial and social returns. Any financial returns we receive are recycled into new investments.

http://www.acumen.org/