Over time and with determination, Acumen Academy has cultivated a deep rooted community of partners, allies, and entrepreneurs who believe that, with the right support, the next generation of leaders will not just succeed, but thrive. 

These 21 entrepreneurs are innovators with audacious plans to solve problems of poverty and build a world based on dignity. As alumni from our fellowship and accelerator programs, they represent the unique convergence of humility, character, and proven competence to execute.

Additionally, they have demonstrated their ability to pilot a market-based initiative with at least one revenue stream, and have proven that their ideas are built to scale — leading to exponential impact around the world.

Meet the Founders

Read below to learn about each of these inspiring entrepreneurs, their impact across the globe, and the unique ways they plan to use Acumen Angels capital to build a better world. 

Follow along on Acumen Academy's LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to see how their journey progresses and to hear more news about the Acumen Angels program.

Justine Abuga | Kenya

Founder of Ecobora

Justine Abuga is an Acumen Academy IKEA Social Entrepreneurship East Africa Accelerator alumnus and the founder of Ecobora, a social enterprise providing clean and affordable solar powered cooking boilers to rural and marginalized schools in Kenya. Ecobora has developed the first clean and affordable cook stove currently being used across Kenyan schools to replace existing firewood boilers, which are expensive, smokey, and unhealthy. To date, they have provided over 72,000 rural students with access to free and safe school meals. Justine plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to introduce a pay-as-you-go technology — an energy-as-a-service model that is more scalable, investable, and will help Ecobora reduce gas emission and provide future carbon financing options to the rural schools they serve. 

Abisade Adenubi | Nigeria

Founder of Heritage Apparels

Abisade Adenubi is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Heritage Apparels, a garment production company on a mission to revive Nigeria’s apparel industry. Heritage Apparels offers affordable clothing for the mass-market in order to reduce the importation of clothes in Nigeria, and provides skills training and job placement for Nigerian youth in the industry. Abisade plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to create and scale the company’s own affordable clothing brand, purchase equipment to improve production quality and efficiency, and expand their team.  

Juan Jorge Cuesta Arévalo | Colombia

Founder of Fundación Timbalé

Juan Jorge Cuesta Arévalo is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Fundación Timbalé, focused on empowering and transforming vulnerable youth in Colombia — a country where 3.2 million young people are neither studying nor working. The organization provides a safe space and social programs where dance, music, and culture are tools for promoting the physical, emotional, and social well-being of youth facing poverty, exclusion, and lack of opportunities. Juan plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to train trainers who will conduct social programs within their own communities, and to fund the production of artistic events.

Qasim Aslam | Pakistan

Founder of The History Project

Qasim Aslam is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of The History Project which is an online academy offering courses on dialogue, facilitation, and mediation for Pakistani youth. Their array of courses help youth reduce power disparity by equipping them with the skills and spaces to engage in dialogue across lines of difference. Qasim plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to complete the building of their core online offerings and to achieve their next level of scale, which includes reaching 2,000 graduate students. 

Arshiya Bose | India

Founder of Black Baza Coffee Co

Arshiya Bose is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Black Baza Coffee Co., a coffee brand built in partnership with smallholder coffee farmers across India. The enterprise provides smallholder coffee producers with secure and stable livelihoods, strengthens farming practices that conserve biodiversity, and invites coffee drinkers to contribute with each cup of coffee or product they purchase. Arshiya plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to build a marketing and sales team focused on both increasing sales within India and expansion abroad. 

Soumya Dabriwal | India

Founder of Project Baala

Soumya Dabriwal is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Project Baala which is an innovative menstrual health provider working to end period poverty and period illiteracy while generating employment for women in India. Project Baala provides affordable and reusable pads, hosts awareness workshops, and employs and trains women entrepreneurs. To date, they have provided 400,000 women and girls with their products and services. Soumya plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to pilot and iterate their new product: an innovative hydrophobic reusable pad, and position it as a product of choice for consumers in India.  

Mario Ferro | Thailand

Founder of Waiser 

Mario Ferro is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Waiser which offers underserved students in Southeast Asia flexible and affordable financing for their education. Waiser is able to provide Future Income Sharing Agreements (FISA) to students who cannot afford to finance courses in post secondary and vocational education by building and managing pools of capital from partners, and charging a management fee for their services. FISA are more affordable than student loans and have flexible repayment plans. Mario plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to build the team and IT infrastructure that will help them scale their activities and build operational efficiencies. 

Michelle Ijomah | Nigeria

Co-Founder of Agnes Health 

Michelle Ijomah is an Acumen Academy Gender Equity and Advancement Accelerator alum and the co-founder of Agnes Health, a maternal health app in Nigeria connecting pregnant users with board-certified midwives, providing 24/7 tele-health services, and sharing educational content. To date, they have provided almost 3,000 pregnant women with health education and expert guidance in local languages. And by 2026, they will have supported 16 million users. Michelle plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to cover the cost of improving their technology and software, strengthen their product offerings to pregnant users, and improve their capacity. 

Sahar Jamal | Kenya

Founder of Maziwa Breastfeeding 

Sahar Jamal is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Maziwa Breastfeeding which provides African mothers with affordable products and services to balance their baby’s health alongside their family’s economic needs. The company’s Wema breast pump — co-created with 800+ mothers — is the first of its kind and allows working moms to discreetly, wirelessly, and efficiently pump breast milk. The company’s 80 Community Breastfeeding Ambassador programs have provided over 13,000 mothers with much needed peer-to-peer lactation support. Sahar plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to increase access to the Wema pump for over 2000 working mothers through a subsidized rental option, and to scale their Community Breastfeeding Ambassador program. 

Shravan Jha | India

Founder of I-Saksham Education And Learning Foundation

Shravan Jha is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of I-Saksham Education And Learning Foundation, which runs a 2-year fellowship program to upskill young women in Bihar, India, where 88 percent of rural women drop out after secondary school and 43 percent are forced into early marriage. The fellowship equips women with the 5Cs: confidence, competence, community-of-practice, connections, and choices to become grassroots “leaders of change.” To date, they have directly and indirectly impacted the lives of 10,000 young women in Bihar. Shravan plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to lay the groundwork for scale and upskill thousands of more young rural women as grassroots leaders.

Sumeet Kaur | India

Founder of Spudnik Farms

Sumeet Kaur is an Acumen Academy Climate Resilient Agriculture Accelerator alum and the founder of Spudnik Farms which is a delivery service in India that sells fresh and local produce and indigenous products. Sourcing their goods directly from smallholder farmers across the country, Spudnik Farms partners with farmer collectives to help them build production capacity, develop processing capabilities, and provide direct access to consumer markets. Sumeet plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to build their marketing and e-shop, upgrade their infrastructure, and conduct product development research. 

Kwabena Assan Mends | Ghana

Founder of Emfed Farms and Trading Company

Kwabena Assan Mends is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Emfed Farms and Trading Company, an agribusiness company offering farm-management services to smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana. Emfed helps make cacao farming profitable by providing smallholder farmers with financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable farming practices. One of their offerings includes collecting and upcycling cacao husks from farmers to produce compost which they then sell back to the farmers for use. Kwabena plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to aggregate more cocoa husks in order to increase the company’s production of compost — which is currently in short supply — from 20 tonnes to100 tonnes per day.

Razin Mustafiz | Bangladesh

Founder of Shujog

Razin Mustafiz is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Shujog which enables low and middle-income workers to live a life free from financial hardship. Almost 90 percent of employed Bangladeshis live paycheck to paycheck and lack formal credit. Without access to credit, these workers resort to loan sharks, charging high interest rates and tossing workers into a vicious cycle of poverty. Charging a flat fee to employers, Shujog is free for workers and gives them instant access to their earned wages before payday. Razin plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to build out the first Android, WhatsApp, IVR, and web apps for employees, conduct pilot programs, and kick off sales and marketing efforts.

Azwa Nayeem | Bangladesh

Founder of Alokito Teachers

Azwa Nayeem is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Alokito Teachers, a nonprofit on a mission to create and implement a one-stop teacher development platform for low-cost schools in Bangladesh. Following a needs-and evidence-based service model, the organization works with a community of teachers to improve their teaching so they can provide quality education to underserved children across the country. Azwa plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to launch their school membership model — a combined approach of digital and in-person coaching methods to grow their community of school clients. 

Teresa Njoroge | Kenya

Founder of Clean Start Kenya

Teresa Njoroge is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Clean Start Kenya. After being wrongfully imprisoned for a crime she did not commit, Teresa founded Clean Start Kenya, which helps women and children impacted by the criminal justice system reintegrate into society through dignified employment training, referrals, and holistic services. Earlier this year, she was announced as an Elevate Prize winner. Teresa plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to expand their programs to Ghana, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Botswana, and South Africa.

John Nyagwencha | Kenya

Founder of Aqua Clara Kenya

John Nyagwencha is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Aqua Clara Kenya, a nonprofit providing affordable water filters across Africa. By building local capacity and providing effective and sustainable solutions for clean water, they’re addressing the lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation throughout rural communities. To date, Aqua Clara Kenya has impacted the lives of 500,000 adults and children through their sanitation training program and water treatment solutions. John plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to pilot a new business model where large rural schools pay a monthly service fee for access to and the maintenance of a community water filter.

Nivedita Rai | India

Founder of Karghewale by Loomers India

Nivedita Rai is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Karghewale by Loomers India, which is an incubator platform helping artisan-entrepreneurs who operate their own micro-enterprises find the right domestic and international markets to sustainably grow their businesses. In an industry where the middle-man controls production, artisans tend to suffer poor compensation and loss of creative agency. Karghewale by Loomers India creates an alternative ecosystem for these aspiring artisan-entrepreneurs, providing them with the services they need to achieve their full potential. Nivedita plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to embark on a five-year growth plan to scale the number of artisan-entrepreneurs served. 

 

Mainak Roy | India

Founder of Simple Education Foundation 

Mainak Roy is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Simple Education Foundation which offers a holistic teacher development program for government schools in India. With the mission to reinvent 50,000 schools and provide high quality learning to more than 10 million children through teacher training, the Foundation has already served 110,000 public school educators with workshops, teaching and learning tools, and instructional coaching. Mainak plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to build a Learning Management System (LMS) and Tools Library that will increase access to their offerings, assess user learning experiences, and help the government design better teacher training programs to improve education. 

Shehu Shamsudeen | Nigeria

Founder of Alliance for Sustainable Livestock

Shehu Shamsudeen is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Alliance for Sustainable Livestock, a last-mile veterinary service for marginalized livestock farmers in Nigeria. Alliance for Sustainable Livestock supports a farmer community of mostly women farmers and helps them access animal health services, prevent livestock diseases, and keep their livestock healthy for adequate production. By providing capacity building to animal health experts and by connecting them to rural farmers, the organization promotes an economically sustainable, socially inclusive, and environmentally friendly livestock system in Africa. Shehu plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to increase training, equipment, and awareness for community-based animal health workers. 

Archana Stalin | India

Founder of myHarvest Farm

Archana Stalin is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of myHarvest Farms, a farm-to-home platform which enables Indian farmers to grow and sell organic produce, helping to improve their livelihoods. myHarvest teaches farmers climate resilient practices and provides access to a community built on fair pricing and environmental sustainability. They also offer home delivery services so families can access safe, chemical-free produce. Archana plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to scale their farmer community, automate their operations, and grow their team’s capacity. 

Mathangi Swaminathan | India

Founder of Parity Lab

Mathangi Swaminathan is an Acumen Fellow and the founder of Parity Lab, an organization working to solve gender-based violence in India, where systemic inequalities prevent women from accessing resources to end violence in their communities. Through their 18-month accelerator program, Parity Labs helps support, strengthen, and scale grassroots organizations led by under-represented rural communities that are addressing gender-based violence. Mathangi plans to use the Acumen Angels capital to build the first-of-its-kind legal helpline to support rural organizations with 24/7 trustworthy legal support in their native language.