In a year marked by capital scarcity, economic uncertainty, and political transition, Acumen America doubled down. We made nine investments in the areas of health, wealth, and work. We have now raised over $50 million since launch and welcomed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a new funder this year. We’re investing in innovative solutions and infrastructure to improve health outcomes with the Medicaid Innovation Collaborative (MIC). With a new administration coming into office, we see an even more urgent need to bolster the safety net. In this moment of change in America, we are more focused than ever on the critical work ahead.
We believe that our early-stage evergreen fund can fuel high-impact businesses, effect real systems change, and improve the lives of Americans. After 10 years we’ve proven that this model works. This year was our most active investing year ever—we are reaching scale, and yet we’re just getting started. Here’s a look back on 2024 and where we find hope going into the new year.
Wealth building and worker empowerment
Employee ownership is a powerful path to close the racial wealth gap. A study from the National Center for Employee Ownership found that employee-owners of color earn 30 percent more in wages and hold 80 percent more in household wealth than non-employee-owners of color.
This year we invested in Obran, a worker-owned cooperative bridging the racial wealth gap by growing profitable, useful, and impactful worker-owned businesses. What interested us about Obran was twofold: their growth potential and their radical vision. Obran is an employee-owned conglomerate—it’s a worker-owned holding company, which allows Obran and its worker owners to pool resources, share dividends, and grow together. Additionally, employees own 100 percent of Obran, rather than the typical smaller percentage, enabling real worker power through governance. These two pillars provide low-wage workers with real opportunities to build wealth and shape a workplace that meets their needs.
The average Hispanic household has one-fifth the wealth of the average white household in America. This is a pressing issue for the Latino community, which constitutes 19% of the population but accounts for 28% of Americans living in poverty. SUMA Wealth cracked the code on delivering financial education and empowerment to the Latino community. The company brings media savvy to a fintech platform that resonates with Gen-Z Latinos. SUMA is positioned to grow and help the next generation of Latinos build wealth.
Our work in health continues to drive impact at scale
In 2024, we saw more meaningful evidence of systems change in the Medicaid space than ever before. We launched our second Medicaid Innovation Collaborative pilot program in Iowa, Kentucky, and New York. Through this effort, Attane Health landed two contracts with major health plans, allowing the company to rapidly expand its customer base and get more Americans with chronic conditions the healthy food they need. In Southern California, our portfolio company Samaritan’s pilot reduced emergency department usage by 21.4 percent and lowered healthcare costs for their members by 54 percent.
Doubling down on our mission with follow-on investments
In addition to growing our portfolio with two new health investments and two new investments in wealth and work, we also made five follow-on investments to support these companies to impact at scale:
- Everytable continues to make an impact in Southern California. The company recently launched the Everytable Social Equity Franchise program, which helps traditionally overlooked entrepreneurs open their own Everytable stores.
- Attane Health is a food-as-medicine marketplace and nutrition education program improving health outcomes for low-income populations and people on Medicaid with chronic conditions.
- Samaritan provides both financial and social support to help unhoused Americans find housing and financial stability.
- Rasa Legal provides flat-rate legal services to low-income Americans trying to clear their criminal record.
- Flourish Health gives teens and young adults with serious mental illness personalized in-home care combined with virtual appointments.
These are just follow-on investments we made in 2024. In total, our portfolio companies have raised over $1 billion in follow-on capital since we made our initial investments in them.
This year strengthened our belief that our investing work can lead to bigger systems change in America. Our new investments in Obran, SUMA Wealth, Zócalo Health, and Arise Health explore innovative ideas to shrink the wealth gap, improve health outcomes, and create a more equitable future for workers. MIC improved the lives of Medicaid beneficiaries. Our follow-on investments allowed the companies to expand, add services, and scale. Our community of founders are all committed to the mission of improving America. And it’s the exact kind of leadership we need need right now: strong-minded, building transformative solutions for low-income communities, and representative of the country’s geographic and racial diversity.
We are at a moment of profound change and as we walk over that threshold, we must reaffirm our commitment to the work. We must ask hard questions and challenge our own assumptions. And we must resource ourselves for the long road ahead. The hopeful future isn't likely immediate nor inevitable. It will only be what we make it. We believe more strongly than ever that poverty-tackling innovation, shifting systems, and centering on the communities we serve will move us toward that hopeful future for America.
Catherine and Amon co-lead Acumen America.
