photo credit: TED.com

On Wednesday night, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture titled "The Education of a Patient Capitalist" from Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of the Acumen Fund.  She spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of students, professors, and other social entrepreneurship enthusiasts as a part of NYU's Reynolds Program Speaking Series.  It was quite a welcome for the "powerhouse and principle innovator" behind Acumen Fund.

Jacqueline first outlined the mission of Acumen Fund to create blueprints for market-oriented solutions that address social programs for the world's poor at the base of the pyramid.  To create these blueprints, they invest in local entrepreneurs that solve problems in Health, Energy, Housing, and Water in India, Pakistan, as well as South and East Africa.  You can check out more details on their investment criteria on the Acumen website.  Jacqueline described their unique position as the intersection of capital, knowledge, and talent.

She also discussed several example investments from the Acumen portfolio including the remarkable success story of A to Z Textile Mills in Tanzania (which now employs more than 7000 Tanzanian women and produces 10 million anti-malarial bednets per year).  

I was really impressed by how their added value enabled significant growth within their portfolio companies and nonprofits.