Lok Capital and Acumen Fund announce Rs. 7 crore investment in Hippocampus Learning Centres

May 16th, 2012 by Acumen Fund
Hippocampus Learning Centers

Lok Capital and Acumen Fund announce Rs. 7 crore investment in Hippocampus Learning Centres, a rural education services provider, signaling both funds’ first foray into education.

HLC improves education quality and generates employment through pre-school and after-school learning programs in rural India.

Bangalore, May 2012: Lok Capital, one of the largest dedicated funds[.....]

Acumen Fund Invests in BASIX Krishi to Increase Agricultural Productivity Of Smallholder Farmers in India

May 11th, 2012 by Acumen Fund

Innovative model offers affordable extension services for crops and livestock to smallholder farmers through a wide network of trained personnel.
Mumbai, India, May 11, 2012 – Acumen Fund, a pioneering nonprofit global venture firm addressing poverty in South Asia and across Africa, today announced an equity investment of INR 9 crores (~$2M) in BASIX Krishi Samruddhi[.....]

Facebook + Skoll = Impact?

May 10th, 2012 by Tristan Zucker

Late last March I boarded a plane to Great Britain after attending a conference on the European debt crisis at the Banque de France.  I was heading to the Skoll World Forum, hoping to replace the despair about the state of the world I had picked up in France with optimism for the future of[.....]

We Are Watching You – Political Accountability through Civic Participation

May 9th, 2012 by Acumen Fund

We Are Watching You is a campaign to create political accountability in Kenya by increasing citizens’ vigilance and civic participation. The campaign uses elements of popular culture to sensitize citizens and works in collaboration with civil society leaders. Created in the wake of the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya, it is led by Ramadhan Obiero[.....]

Our Experiments with Generosity

May 3rd, 2012 by Sapna Shah and Prateek Kanwal

In 2009, Sasha Dichter ran a  ’Generosity Experiment’, an attempt to say yes in a world where you often hear ‘NO’. It quickly turned into a worldwide phenomenon, and became part of a broader effort to reboot Valentine’s Day as “Generosity Day” in order to reconnect the day to the core ideas of love and[.....]