FINCA Ventures Annual Impact Report 2019: In Motion
This article was originally published on FINCAVentures.com.
It may not feel like business as usual for anyone right now, and yet one thing remains constant for our team: the pursuit of enduring impact. When we started our impact investing journey three years ago, we had many hypotheses about our evolving role in the sector, but we had one anchoring truth: the demonstration of meaningful, measurable social impact.
Since our launch, we’ve successfully deployed nearly $2 million of patient capital into eight social enterprises spanning energy, education, health and agriculture. The start-up realities faced by our investees—innovators who are pioneering new products, services and business models in markets long neglected or unfit for traditional approaches—are unique in their own right. What binds this diversity is the social impact we seek to engender and the continuous undertaking of setting and keeping something in motion despite the undercurrents and friction that can slow us down.This is why we’re thrilled to launch the FINCA Ventures Annual Impact Report 2019: In Motion.
Our portfolio companies have led the way with earnest work across the African continent this past year, impacting lives in meaningful and lasting ways. This inaugural impact report shares their achievements through metrics, customer spotlights and deep dives, and offers ample context for how our team thinks about defining and measuring “impact.” It also shares insights from lessons learned along the way.
Here are some of the impact highlights across the portfolio:
- Amped Innovation: 27,910 families benefiting from 2,547 mWh of clean energy
- East Africa Fruits: 1,735 smallholder farmers connected to 680 small, informal vendors, allowing for both groups to improve their incomes
- Eneza Education: 636,906 active learners on the platform (on average) accessing digital education resources and completing 4,932,581 lessons
- Good Nature Agro: 5,582 smallholder farmers receiving $966,415 in payouts for their harvests
- Ignitia: 1,362,351 individuals receiving 23,523,910 weather forecasts
- MDaaS Global: 8,195 patients (and 5,246 female patients) gaining affordable diagnostic services
- Sanivation: 907 metric tons of fecal sludge converted to fuel substitutes, saving 27,387 trees
We’re excited to share this first-ever FINCA Ventures Annual Impact Report and proud to work alongside amazing entrepreneurs, co-investors and ecosystem partners equally determined to create, measure and optimize social impact.