Congratulations to Acumen Fund investee Satyan Mishra, CEO of Drishtee, for being identified as India’s fastest-growing high-tech company. We are proud to be working with Drishtee, which is building a network of telecenters across India based on a franchise model that delivers an array of services and information. Through Satyan, we’ve learned the power of piggybacking on distribution systems. We’ve also been struck by the company’s approach to identifying entrepreneurs by holding competitions around sales drives before a franchise is awarded. We believe that Drishtee is one of Acumen Fund’s strongest business models for serving the rural poor and look forward to learning more and to working more closely with Satyan and his team.

On November 30, Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz will be speaking at the Asia Society in New York. She will be participating in a panel discussion, along with philanthropist Abraham George, on the topic of social entrepreneurship in India. The discussion will be kicked off by UN Undersecretary Shashi Tharoor and moderated by Dan Gross of The New York Times. For more information, click here.

Last week, Acumen Fund held its annual Investor Gathering. Our partner, Gary Rindner, shared these observations about the event. 

On November 14, I had the pleasure of attending my first Acumen Fund investor gathering. Having just committed as a partner, any lingering doubts about my choice were forever dispelled by this remarkable event.

Having heard her speak previously, I was not surprised by the insight and inspiration of CEO Jacqueline Novogratz’s remarks. More revealing were the impressive presentations by others in the Acumen community – standup poetry presented by the first crop of Acumen Fellows, deep but concise gazes into the future from a stellar panel of experts. Or as board chair Margo Alexander mentioned to me on the way out – it just doesn’t get better!

For me, the venue had special meaning. Thanks to the kindness of partners Shelley and Donald Rubin, the Rubin Museum of Art was available to us, an elegant structure carved from the remnants of the old Barney’s store on 17th Street. Stirring deep memories of the many long days I worked at Barneys selling suits to help meet my college expenses, I noticed some fascinating parallels between Barney’s and Acumen Fund. (more…)

Acumen Fund has had a fortunate few weeks in terms of media coverage. Not only were we featured in BusinessWeek online, an article about us appeared in the “Giving” section of Monday’s The New York Times; James Surowiecki mentions Acumen Fund in MIT’s Technology Review; and we will be featured this weekend on CNN’s program “In the Money.” Clearly, the media is starting to pay closer attention to new models for social enterprise, and we’re happy to be part of advancing that discussion.

A nice article about Acumen Fund appears on the “Innovation & Design” channel of Business Week’s online magazine. We’re quite excited to see Drishtee, our investment in e-kiosks for rural healthcare in India, and its founder, Satyan Mishra, prominently highlighted, along with our investment in A to Z Textile Mills and anti-malarial bednets in Tanzania.

Where on earth can you talk about wireless mesh networks over lunch in the Dalai Lama’s private courtyard while gazing out at snow-capped Himalayan peaks?

At the first annual AirJaldi Summit held last month in Dharamsala, India, of course. I had the privilege of attending this event along with one of our colleagues at Drishtee and interacting with a global group of technology professionals drawn by the opportunity to meet and discuss wireless networks and their relevance to local and international development. (more…)

Another busy week as an Acumen Fund Fellow addressed issues of balance. The question of life balance is a particularly resonant one for me, given that I am juggling the needs of my family (a wife and 9-month-old son) with my responsibilities as a Fellow. It’s clear that such questions are common to every leader and would-be leader. But balance goes beyond just overcoming the divide between personal and professional lives.

We had the opportunity to meet with, among others, Peter Reiling of The Aspen Institute, Alan Hassenfeld, the chairman of Hasbro, Danny Grossman, CEO of Wild Planet Toys, and Jed Emerson, creator of the Blended Value Proposition.

Peter Reiling used the writings of Arthur Clough, Leo Tolstoy, Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass and others to explore questions of leadership, such as: What is our moral compass? How do we know if we are doing enough? Is what we preach aligned with what we do? Are our lives balanced; do they need to be? These fundamental questions came up again and again throughout the week with other speakers. (more…)