Acumen America
Venture capitalPre-Seed–Seed · 15 people tracked
Investment thesis
Acumen America invests in early-stage, mission-driven founders whose solutions address systemic poverty in America across three interconnected areas: unequal workforce development, health inequities, and financial instability. The firm seeks founders overlooked by traditional venture capital and believes lasting change requires innovative, scalable ideas designed to drive systems change. The firm provides early-stage capital and deep ongoing portfolio support to accompany entrepreneurs from startup through scale.
Source: firm website, verified Jul 21, 2026.
Team · 15 people
from the firm's websiteCo-leads Acumen America; led agriculture and water/sanitation investments across East Africa for four years, and developed impact investing strategy at Cherokee Investment Partners in Ethiopia.
Co-leads Acumen America; previously established Acumen's offices in West Africa and Latin America and served as chief of staff to Acumen's CEO. Built social enterprises in East Africa focused on healthcare expansion.
Leads operations and manages stakeholder engagement for Acumen America's partner community. Previously worked on impact initiatives addressing poverty and healthcare access in Lebanon and project finance in the Middle East and Europe.
Leads investment sourcing, diligence, portfolio operations, and post-investment support. Previously managed large cap investment portfolios at BNP Paribas and covered early-stage fintech at Wells Fargo.
Leads sourcing, diligence, and portfolio operations across healthcare, workforce development, and financial inclusion. Invested in venture and growth stage companies across multiple verticals at several venture capital firms and held analytical roles at Univision and Vanguard.
Directs investment activities and manages portfolio companies addressing poverty and inequality across the United States. Co-founded and held principal roles at Lumos Capital Group focused on education technology and future of work; previously worked as technology investment banker at Goldman Sachs.
Served as Acumen President for over a decade through January 2025 after initial role as Chief Operating Officer. Previously spent seven years as President and CEO of Katun Corporation, a global private company in imaging consumables.
Founder and CEO of the parent organization Acumen; recognized leader in the social impact space and author of two award-winning books on social entrepreneurship and moral leadership.
Manages partner engagement, operational strategy, and portfolio support for Acumen America. Previously conducted due diligence on impact-focused funds and developed investment theses for early-stage firms.
Focuses on investment sourcing, diligence, and portfolio operations. Previously covered sector-agnostic early-stage investments at Precursor Ventures and worked on software and fintech deals at SVB.
CEO and co-founder of Ulu Ventures, a seed-stage venture fund focused on enterprise, fintech, consumer, health, and sustainability innovation. Dedicated to increasing diversity in entrepreneurship and investing.
Founding partner of Supply Change Capital, an early-stage venture fund focused on women and entrepreneurs of color in the food sector. Previously held managing partner roles at MiLA Capital focusing on hardware and physical product innovation.
Founder and general partner of Symphonic Capital, a venture firm investing in companies improving quality of life for underserved populations. Previously served in the Bloomberg Administration in New York City.
Leads strategy and partnerships for the Medicaid Innovation Collaborative program to advance tech-enabled health innovations for Medicaid beneficiaries. Spent nearly a decade as president of the Center for Care Innovations and previously managed healthcare access programs at the California Health Care Foundation.
Founding CEO of HOPE organizations dedicated to strengthening financial health in under-resourced Deep South communities. Since 1994, HOPE has provided nearly $4 billion in financing benefiting over 2.6 million people.
What they invest in
from 1 of 3 portfolio companiesDigital Health ×1FemTech ×1Healthtech ×1
HQs:United States×1
Investments · 3 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathMalama develops a digital health platform for managing gestational diabetes in pregnancy, providing data tracking, pattern analysis, and clinical support to reduce adverse maternal outcomes and progression to Type 2 diabetes.
Digital HealthFemTechHealthtechSan Francisco, US
Mika Eddy(Founder)inOrlando Li(Founder)inDaniela Bahamon ArangoShalmali Bane
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Acumen America invest at?
- Acumen America invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages.
- What is Acumen America's typical check size?
- Acumen America typically writes checks of $250K – $500K.
- What sectors does Acumen America focus on?
- Acumen America focuses on Fintech, Healthtech, HR Tech, Impact & Social Good.
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