The Google Foundation’s $5 million gift to the Acumen Fund goes to show that "making a philanthropic investment" in international small/sustainable business development is fashionable. Google would never do anything out of fashion. The Google Foundation is the philanthropic arm of google.
The Rockefeller Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundation, and individual philanthropists established the Acumen Fund in 2001. The Acumen Fund is an international non-profit venture fund that provides loans, equity investments, grants and intellectual capital to enterprises that support progress in health, housing, and water. At the end of 2004, the Acumen Fund had total disbursed loans of $2.964 million. The Fund aims to achieve approximately a negative -20% return on investment.Additional Resources
1) Google.org Partnership.
2) Acumen Fund: Our Mission.
3) Acumen Fund: Investment Approach.
4) Acumen Fund: Investment Report August 2005.
5) Google
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