Acumen
VC Fund
New York, United States
Acumen is a nonprofit venture fund that invests in early-stage companies bringing critical services like agriculture, clean energy, education, financial inclusion, healthcare and workforce development to low-income communities in 14 countries across East and West Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Since 2001, Acumeninvested $128 million in 128 companies that have transformed the lives of over 308 million low-income people.
- Total investments:
- 187
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 49%
- Fund size:
- $2.8M
- Last fund:
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Acumen invests in
Stages Acumen invests in
Countries Acumen invests in
Round sizes
Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Round size
- Seed
- $300k–$2.5M
- Series A
- $1.6M–$12M
Investment Focus
Industry
- Agriculture 28 (15%)
- Solar 22 (12%)
- Financial Services 21 (11%)
- Health Care 19 (10%)
- Energy 18 (10%)
Stage
- Seed 53 (28%)
- Funding Round 42 (22%)
- Series A 22 (12%)
- Venture - Series Unknown 20 (11%)
- Debt Financing 13 (7%)
Country
- United States 40 (21%)
- India 37 (20%)
- Kenya 18 (10%)
- Nigeria 10 (5%)
- Colombia 7 (4%)
Team
| Name | Title | Investments | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Adekemi Ajayi
Regional Director, West Africa
|
Regional Director, West Africa | Total investments: 2 | Find email | |
Carsten Stendevad
President and CIO
|
President and CIO | Total investments: 1 | Find email | |
Veenu Aulakh
Director
|
Director | Total investments: 2 | Find email | |
Ajit Mahadevan
Country Director
|
Country Director | Total investments: 1 | Find email | |
Amon Anderson
Director
|
Director | Total investments: 7 | Find email | |
| See all 34 team members → | ||||
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
MyJouleBox
|
MyJouleBox offers a solution for solar professionals in Africa to offer leased solar installations to their customers. | $7.4M / Venture - Series Unknown / Apr 10, 2026 | |
Pullus Africa
|
We are Africa's first poultry-only platform using technology to boost local poultry production and supply chain by facilitating access to quality Input, advisory and production services, finance, and a guaranteed market for poultry farmers in Africa. | Seed / Apr 10, 2026 | |
Instollar
|
Instollar is solar energy workforce provider in the region. | Seed / Apr 09, 2026 | |
Mountain Harvest
|
Mountain Harvest produces Arabica coffee, working with local farmers to improve coffee quality and support sustainable farming practices. The company focuses on enhancing farmers' income opportunities and environmental sustainability. It offers education and internships in quality assurance, processing, and agronomy. Mountain Harvest alsocollaborates with academic institutions on research related to coffee production and quality. | Venture - Series Unknown / Apr 07, 2026 | |
Omia Agribusiness Development
|
The mission of Omia Agribusiness Development is to provide African farmers with the tools they need to achieve maximum productivity, profitability, and sustainability. | Convertible Note / Mar 26, 2026 | |
AgroEknor
|
AgroEknor provides agricultural research, integration, technology based optimization & global delivery of the agro superfoods. | Venture - Series Unknown / Feb 06, 2026 | |
ScrapUncle
|
ScrapUncle is an App/Website that allows users to schedule a doorstep pickup for their Junk goods such as Paper, Metals, Plastics, Electronic Waste and get paid for it. | $2.4M / Seed / Jan 27, 2026 | |
Vitara
|
Vitara provide tools that enable traceability, real-time data insights, conservation monitoring, farmer payments | Venture - Series Unknown / Jan 09, 2026 | |
Loom Craft Chocolate
|
Loom Craft Chocolate is a artisanal cocoa processor with a strong focus on the quality of our products and the sustainability of our processes. | Venture - Series Unknown / Aug 22, 2025 | |
Ampersand
|
Ampersand catalyzes and power mass-market electric mobility. By supplying the battery swap network and operating system the company makes sustainable mobility rapidly accessible and affordable for developing markets, to improve livelihoods and the environment. With over a million km already covered by e-motorcycles in Africa using our plug-and-playpowertrain and energy network. | Venture - Series Unknown / Aug 16, 2025 | |
| See all 187 investments → | |||
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FAQ
What does Acumen invest in?
Acumen invests primarily in Agriculture, Solar and Financial Services startups, most often at Seed and Funding Round stage. Most of the 187 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
What is Acumen's check size?
Acumen typically joins rounds of $300k–$2.5M at Seed and $1.6M–$12M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Acumen participates in.
How do I contact Acumen?
Public channels for Acumen include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
Who are the partners at Acumen?
The team at Acumen includes Adekemi Ajayi (Regional Director, West Africa), Carsten Stendevad (President and CIO) and Veenu Aulakh (Director), among 34 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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