ACUMEN FUND INC
40 WORTH STREET NO 303, NEW YORK, NY 10013 www.acumen.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: ACUMEN FUND IS WORKING TO CHANGE THE WAY THE WORLD TACKLES POVERTY BY INVESTING IN COMPANIES, LEADERS AND IDEAS. [SEE CONTINUATION ON SCHEDULE O]WE INVEST PATIENT CAPITAL IN BUSINESSES THAT DELIVER CRITICAL, AFFORDABLE GOODS AND SERVICES TO THE POOR, IMPROVING THE LIVES OF MILLIONS IN SOUTH ASIA, EAST AND WEST AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES. SINCE 2001, ACUMEN FUND HAS INVESTED $128 MILLION IN 128 SOCIAL ENTERPRISES WORKING IN HEALTH CARE, ENERGY, EDUCATION/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, WATER & SANITATION, HOUSING, FINANCIAL SERVICES, AND AGRICULTURE. WE ALSO INVEST IN BUILDING A GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF EMERGING LEADERS WORKING TO CREATE A MORE JUST, INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD THROUGH OUR ACUMEN FELLOWS PROGRAM AND ONLINE SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, +ACUMEN.THROUGH THESE EFFORTS, WE ARE WORKING TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO POVERTY.

OUR MISSION IS TO CHANGE THE WAY THE WORLD TACKLES POVERTY BY INVESTING IN COMPANIES, LEADERS AND IDEAS.OUR VISION IS THAT ONE DAY EVERY HUMAN BEING WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THE CRITICAL GOODS AND SERVICES THEY NEED - INCLUDING AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE, CLEAN ENERGY, EDUCATION, WATER & SANITATION, HOUSING, ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES, AND AGRICULTURAL INPUTS - SO THEY HAVE THE CHOICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO TRANSFORM THEIR LIVES. THIS IS WHERE DIGNITY STARTS - NOT JUST FOR THE POOR BUT FOR EVERYONE ON EARTH.

INVESTING AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT:ACUMEN INVESTS PATIENT CAPITAL IN BUSINESS MODELS THAT DELIVER CRITICAL, AFFORDABLE GOODS AND SERVICES TO THE WORLD'S POOR, IMPROVING THE LIVES OF MILLIONS. SINCE 2001, ACUMEN HAS INVESTED IN BUSINESSES THAT PROVIDE ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE, ENERGY, EDUCATION, WATER & SANITATION, HOUSING, FINANCIAL SERVICES, AND AGRICULTURAL SERVICES TO LOW-INCOME CUSTOMERS. OUR INVESTMENTS ARE ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS OF POVERTY IN EAST AND WEST AFRICA, SOUTH ASIA, LATIN AMERICA, AND THE UNITED STATES. ACUMEN INVESTED IN 11 NEW COMPANIES IN 2019, REACHING A CUMULATIVE $128 MILLION INVESTED IN 128 BUSINESSES SERVING THE POOR. [SEE CONTINUATION ON SCHEDULE O]IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2019, OUR TEAM CONDUCTED ANNUAL REVIEWS FOR ALL PORTFOLIO COMPANIES TO MEASURE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE AGAINST SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL IMPACT TARGETS AND DEVELOP DETAILED POST-INVESTMENT ENGAGEMENT PLANS OUTLINING THE SUPPORT REQUIRED BY ACUMEN TO HELP THE COMPANIES GROW. ACUMEN DIRECTLY SUPPORTED COMPANIES IN 2019 THROUGH OUR PARTICIPATION ON 71 COMPANY BOARDS, CONDUCTING 22 LEAN DATA IMPACT MEASUREMENT SURVEYS AND PROVIDING 14 NEW TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS ALLOWING COMPANIES TO EXPERIMENT WITH HIGH-IMPACT PROJECTS AND PRODUCTS.

FELLOWS AND LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS ACUMEN'S FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM IN COLOMBIA, EAST AND WEST AFRICA, PAKISTAN AND INDIA BUILDS COHORTS OF LOCAL SOCIAL CHANGE LEADERS AND FACILITATES FIVE WEEK-LONG SEMINARS RANGING FROM HOLISTIC APPROACHES TO PROBLEM-SOLVING TO FRAMEWORKS FOR THRIVING IN CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS. AS OF THE END OF Q4 2019, A CUMULATIVE 544 ACUMEN FELLOWS HAVE PARTICIPATED IN OUR PROGRAM WORLDWIDE. IN 2019, ACUMEN EMBARKED ON AN AMBITIOUS VISION TO SPREAD ITS ETHOS BY LAUNCHING NEW FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS WITH REGIONAL PARTNERS. [SEE CONTINUATION ON SCHEDULE O]OUR FIRST REGIONAL PARTNERS INCLUDE VISIONARY INDIVIDUALS AND FOUNDATIONS IN BANGLADESH, MALAYSIA AND SPAIN, WHOSE INAUGURAL COHORTS OF SOCIAL CHANGE LEADERS WILL BEGIN THEIR FELLOWSHIP IN EARLY 2020. BY OPERATING AS SEPARATE ENTITIES FROM ACUMEN, REGIONAL PARTNERS ALLOW US TO EXPAND OUR COMMUNITY OF FELLOWS FASTER THAN THROUGH OUR EXISTING SELF-OPERATED MODEL. IN 2019, WE ALSO EXPERIMENTED WITH NEW MODELS OF ENGAGEMENT FOR OUR GROWING COMMUNITY OF SOCIAL INNOVATORS. WE ARE PARTICULARLY EXCITED ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF WHAT WE CALL "CHALLENGES" DESIGNED TO ACCELERATE THE PROGRESS OF ENTREPRENEURS FOCUSED ON SPECIFIC PROBLEMS. OUR FIRST CHALLENGE, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH UNILEVER, ADDRESSED PLASTIC POLLUTION IMPACTING LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES. THE ACUMEN-UNILEVER SOCIAL INNOVATION CHALLENGE ON PLASTICS RECEIVED NEARLY 100 SUBMISSIONS AND THREE WINNING TEAMS RECEIVED $25,000 AS WELL AS MENTORSHIP FROM UNILEVER TO START OR TO SCALE THEIR PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT BUSINESS IDEAS. THIS SUCCESS WAS QUICKLY FOLLOWED BY A SECOND, LARGER CHALLENGE: THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION-ACUMEN STUDENT INNOVATION CHALLENGE. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION, THIS CHALLENGE ENGAGED A NEW GENERATION OF STUDENT INNOVATORS TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS OF POVERTY. THE CHALLENGE RECEIVED ENTRIES FROM MORE THAN 5,500 STUDENTS IN 138 COUNTRIES; WINNERS, WHO WILL BE SELECTED IN 2020, WILL RECEIVE UP TO $20,000 TO SUPPORT THEIR IDEAS.IN 2019, WE MADE THE STRATEGIC DECISION TO BRING OUR LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS AND ONLINE CONTENT TOGETHER UNDER ONE ROOF AND NEWLY BRANDED AS ACUMEN ACADEMY. LAUNCHING IN EARLY 2020, THIS 'UNIVERSITY REIMAGINED' WILL BRING MORE THAN 500 ACUMEN FELLOWS TOGETHER WITH NEARLY 500,000 +ACUMEN COURSE-TAKERS TO FORM A POWERFUL, UNITED COMMUNITY OF SOCIAL INNOVATORS. TO BRING ACUMEN ACADEMY TO LIFE, WE DEVELOPED A NEW DIGITAL PLATFORM IN 2019 TO HOUSE OUR ONLINE COURSES, MASTER CLASSES, FELLOWSHIP CONTENT AND INNOVATION CHALLENGES, MAKING THIS CONTENT AVAILABLE TO ANYONE, ANYWHERE - EVEN AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TECHNOLOGY ACCESS. BY BRINGING OUR MULTIPLE LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP COMMUNITIES TOGETHER ON A SINGLE PLATFORM, ACUMEN ACADEMY CREATES THE POSSIBILITY FOR LEADERS TO FIND ONE ANOTHER, COLLABORATE AND FORM COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE AROUND SOCIAL ISSUES - AND FOR NEW LEADERS TO JOIN US. FOR ACUMEN, HAVING ONE CENTRALIZED PLATFORM WILL ALSO GIVE US THE DEPTH OF DATA WE NEED TO SUPPORT AND SERVE THIS COMMUNITY MEANINGFULLY AND DRIVE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE FOR THE FUTURE.

IMPACT AND COMMUNICATIONSTHE GOAL OF THE IMPACT AND COMMUNICATIONS TEAMS AT ACUMEN IS TO SUPPORT THE MISSION OF CHANGING THE WAY THE WORLD TACKLES POVERTY BY SHARING THE INSIGHTS FROM OUR WORK, CATALYZING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL, MARKETS-BASED APPROACH TO SOLVING POVERTY AND SHIFTING PUBLIC PERCEPTION TO SEE THE POTENTIAL OF LOW-INCOME PEOPLE.[SEE CONTINUATION ON SCHEDULE O]ACUMEN PUBLISHED TWO REPORTS IN 2019. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH UNILEVER, ACUMEN RELEASED A LEAN DATA HOW-TO GUIDE: UNDERSTANDING GENDER IMPACT IN JUNE 2019 TO PROVIDE A SIMPLE, EASY-TO-USE, AND ACTIONABLE TOOLKIT TO HELP BUSINESSES, PROGRAM DESIGNERS, AND INVESTORS MEASURE THEIR IMPACT SPECIFICALLY ON WOMEN AND GIRLS.ACUMEN'S INDUSTRY REPORT WITH OPEN CAPITAL ADVISORS, LIGHTING THE WAY:ROADMAP TO EXITS IN OFF-GRID ENERGY, PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER 2019, EXPLORES THE CHALLENGES LIMITING EXITS IN THE SECTOR, VIABLE PATHWAYS TO EXIT AND HOW COMPANIES, INVESTORS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS CAN - AND MUST - FACILITATE MORE OF THEM.ACUMEN ALSO PUBLISHES THE PROGRESS OF ITS WORK IN OTHER WAYS, INCLUDING SHARING THE STORIES OF OUR INVESTEES AS WELL AS ENTERPRISES LED BY ACUMEN FELLOWS. IN 2019, ACUMEN RAN A CAMPAIGN CALLED POWER WHAT'S POSSIBLE TO SHOWCASE SIX ACUMEN PORTFOLIO COMPANIES AND FOUR ACUMEN FELLOWS TRANSFORMING LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD. THE CAMPAIGN RAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND THROUGH WEEKLY EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS FROM GIVING TUESDAY THROUGH NEW YEAR'S DAY.

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