Acumen Fund: The Capabilities Assessment Matrix
ACUMEN FUND
The Acumen Fund was founded raise capital through individuals, grants, foundations, and corporations to invest in ventures that were scalable and created financial returns and social impact. For social impact, Acumen looked at serving the base of the pyramid (BoP) market, the underserved or the poorest customers. Traditionally, products or services for this population would not be developed, because they were seen as "high risk" with a potential for low returns. By investing in ventures that served this population, Acumen Fund was looking at "promoting market-oriented solutions to solve social problem." Financial returns were easier to calculate. They looked at the venture's history, leadership, and market to determine risk …show more content…
BACO (Best Available Charitable Option) is a tool that determines the estimated cost effectiveness of an investment by comparing its impact to what a charitable grant would provide in a similar case. This also helps Acumen compare deals against each other and across various venture sizes and impact areas. This is not perfect tool since it is dependent on assumptions and cannot adequately calculate impact, but it provides a framework that facilitates the decision-making process.
The Capabilities Assessment Matrix is a rubric to determine mission alignment and financial feasibility. It is used to measure the commitment to the organization's mission, financial sustainability, ability to scale, possible social impact, and leadership capacity. Although the tool is used to make the decision making process easier, its four-point rating scale is too subjective and makes nuanced differences hard to measure. It also does not take into consideration external factors like partnerships or the local political environment that can dramatically affect the viability of a …show more content…
The founder had already developed five facilities that were profitable and served from 200 - 500 customers a day. Ecotact was able to not just obtain revenue from the toilets and showers, space was used to for shoe-shine units and Coca-Cola vendors. Proving the viability of the model, the founder was seeking a loan to expand by 30 facilities in “low-income rural areas” in multiple municipalities in Kenya.
An assessment of Ecotact shows that it's commitment is clearly aligned with the Acumen Fund, and it has a business model that is financially sustainable. The Management Capacity is of concern. The founder has a strong vision, but may not have the necessary experience to scale the Ecotact. Their model also would dependent on on it's public-private partnerships to be able to grow. They would be able to create facilities in public lands, but the municipalities would own the land and facilities. They would have exclusive rights to operate for 10 years, but there was not clear plan for after that period.
MERIDIAN MEDICAL
The Acumen Fund was founded raise capital through individuals, grants, foundations, and corporations to invest in ventures that were scalable and created financial returns and social impact. For social impact, Acumen looked at serving the base of the pyramid (BoP) market, the underserved or the poorest customers. Traditionally, products or services for this population would not be developed, because they were seen as "high risk" with a potential for low returns. By investing in ventures that served this population, Acumen Fund was looking at "promoting market-oriented solutions to solve social problem." Financial returns were easier to calculate. They looked at the venture's history, leadership, and market to determine risk …show more content…
BACO (Best Available Charitable Option) is a tool that determines the estimated cost effectiveness of an investment by comparing its impact to what a charitable grant would provide in a similar case. This also helps Acumen compare deals against each other and across various venture sizes and impact areas. This is not perfect tool since it is dependent on assumptions and cannot adequately calculate impact, but it provides a framework that facilitates the decision-making process.
The Capabilities Assessment Matrix is a rubric to determine mission alignment and financial feasibility. It is used to measure the commitment to the organization's mission, financial sustainability, ability to scale, possible social impact, and leadership capacity. Although the tool is used to make the decision making process easier, its four-point rating scale is too subjective and makes nuanced differences hard to measure. It also does not take into consideration external factors like partnerships or the local political environment that can dramatically affect the viability of a …show more content…
The founder had already developed five facilities that were profitable and served from 200 - 500 customers a day. Ecotact was able to not just obtain revenue from the toilets and showers, space was used to for shoe-shine units and Coca-Cola vendors. Proving the viability of the model, the founder was seeking a loan to expand by 30 facilities in “low-income rural areas” in multiple municipalities in Kenya.
An assessment of Ecotact shows that it's commitment is clearly aligned with the Acumen Fund, and it has a business model that is financially sustainable. The Management Capacity is of concern. The founder has a strong vision, but may not have the necessary experience to scale the Ecotact. Their model also would dependent on on it's public-private partnerships to be able to grow. They would be able to create facilities in public lands, but the municipalities would own the land and facilities. They would have exclusive rights to operate for 10 years, but there was not clear plan for after that period.
MERIDIAN MEDICAL