Summer Venture Capital Associate

Acumen America is seeking a Summer Venture Capital Associate in San Francisco with a passion for investing, impact, and technology to help support our growing U.S. portfolio. This is an outstanding opportunity for someone with strong investment judgment, financial analysis skills, exceptional energy, and a proven commitment to social change.

Acumen America

Launched in 2015, Acumen America is the U.S. investing arm of Acumen Fund, Inc., an organization founded in 2001 with the mission of investing in businesses whose products and services address challenges faced by low-income populations around the world. To date, Acumen has invested approximately $150 million in 156 companies that have impacted over 400 million lives.

In the U.S., inequality and poverty are persistent barriers to progress across the economic and social landscape. Acumen America makes venture investments in disruptive, early-stage companies that are improving the lives of low-income Americans. The entrepreneurs we support are building market-based, technology-enabled solutions to increase access to high-quality products, services, and opportunities for economic mobility. Through our work with our portfolio companies, we aim to be a laboratory for entrepreneurial solutions to poverty in America. Since 2015, we have invested in 39 companies reaching over 85 million low-income Americans.  

We believe in the power of a diverse portfolio, and 56% of our companies have a founder of color and 44% have a female founder. The team is responsible for finding, vetting, structuring and managing investments in companies that serve low-income Americans in our three portfolio sectors: financial services, workforce development, and health. Acumen America is a small team based in San Francisco.

About the Role

The Summer Associate will help generate investment themes, source new investment opportunities, evaluate and support entrepreneurs, conduct due diligence on transactions, and support internal projects to help drive portfolio growth. The Summer Associate will use his or her business skills to evaluate the market positioning, scalability, and defensibility of mission-driven startups that aim to generate market-based returns and lasting social impact.

More specifically, the responsibilities of the Summer Associate may include the opportunity to:

• Conduct research to support Acumen America’s key investment sectors (Health, Workforce Development, Financial Inclusion)
• Meet mission-driven entrepreneurs to evaluate new investment opportunities and promote Acumen America’s investment strategy
• Generate actionable investment themes based on research, networking and personal conviction
• Create succinct investment summaries on potential investments; incorporate feedback from diligence sources to provide recommendations to the investment committee
• Conduct due diligence on potential investments to validate assumptions, including product demos, customer calls, investor calls, and market size analysis
• Research potential resources to support Acumen’s current portfolio companies in areas including capital raising, hiring, and business development

Skills & Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years of professional experience (exclusive of any graduate education)
• Personal motivation to build a more inclusive economy and address issues of poverty and inequality
• Deep interest in entrepreneurship, technology ecosystems, and venture capital
• Proven experience in financial analysis and modeling
• Strong investment judgement and understanding of competitive markets
• Understanding of venture capital investing, including terms, capital structure, and investment process
• Strong ability to take initiative with research and analysis and produce valuable results in conditions of uncertainty
• Ability to present investment ideas clearly in memoranda to senior management and advisors
• A Bachelor’s degree is required

Duration

10-12 weeks

Location

San Francisco, CA    

Deadline

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis through Friday, March 15, 2024.

The Summer Venture Capital Associate role will receive a stipend of $850/week for a maximum of 10-12 weeks