We’re excited to share that the Acumen Angels Award for India-based Foundry Members is open to all types of organisations. 

Please ensure you have read and understood the eligibility options outlined above. Then, choose the approach that best fits your organisation when you apply.

Only For-profit organizations are eligible to apply for Acumen Angels 2025. Please ensure you have read and understood the additional eligibility criteria outlined above.

Applicants to Acumen Angels 2025 can apply to receive up to USD 50,000 in awards. In addition, every applicant will have access to a Pitch Masterclass designed to elevate their ability to effectively communicate their work and secure crucial funding beyond Acumen Angels. 
To apply, submit your eligibility form (including your pitch deck) and register for the Pitch Masterclass by Tuesday, 14 October at 11:59 PM UTC! 

The average number of Angels awards granted each year is 20.

For the 2025 Acumen Angels cycle, we are also launching a new Angels track for entrepreneurs leading climate tech enterprises in select* African Countries. Eligible applicants to Acumen Angels are automatically considered for the Angels Climate Tech Africa program. To learn more about this new Angels track and your eligibility, please click here.

Only the Pitch Masterclass scheduled for 28 and 30 October is mandatory for all Angels Applicants. And you only need to attend one of the sessions.  

The coaching and information sessions are optional. While we strongly recommend engaging these materials/resources, whether you complete/attend them will not impact the assessment of your Angels application or your ability to apply. 

Foundry members are all alumni from the Acumen Fellows program and Acumen Academy Accelerator programs. If you graduated from a fellowship or an accelerator program at Acumen Academy, then you are in The Foundry. 

Angels is differentiated from Acumen’s portfolio investing work by stage and ticket size. Angels target the “Blueprint” stage, stopping short of the end of “Validate” stage - this includes organizations developing initial products and strategies, as well as testing and refining the business model. Angels funding is intended to be small, simple, bound by trust, and based on the belief in your character and potential and the potential of your model to create a positive and meaningful impact at scale. 

Further, Acumen Angels is exclusive to the social entrepreneurs in Acumen’s alumni community, the Foundry.

No. This is also for non-profits and hybrid models. However, depending on where your organization is based, there might be local regulations that require us to exclude certain organization structures from participating in Angels.

Yes, you can do that. However, please make sure you use the money the way you say you will use them in your application.

Yes, the program is designed for Founders, but we are open to exceptional cases where the leader of the organization is not the Founder but the CEO. When you open the application form you will be asked to first complete an eligibility test.

As of now, this is for individual entrepreneurs who are beyond the idea stage, it isn’t to pitch brand new, untested ideas. However, we are very open to the evolution of this type of funding should there be interest.

Only Fellows and Accelerator participants who completed their programs or who graduate from their program by 30 November 2025 can apply. Please ask your program team if you are unclear when you graduate.

Our hope is for this to be an annual program.

No.

With respect to the first question, early-stage organizations/projects are not in the idea stage nor do they have stable beneficiaries/customers. Instead, they are completing the first level of validation of the problem-solution fit. If you are a for-profit the condition is your organization has not raised external funding of more than USD 100,000.

Regarding the second question, It depends. If you are a for-profit or hybrid organization, the condition is your organization has not raised external funding of more than USD 100,000. If you are a nonprofit, then there is no such condition. However, for nonprofits, please check the type of projects that are eligible for Acumen Angels.

We assume you run experiments to validate your model’s assumptions. An example of an assumption is your customers' willingness to pay for your solution. Be clear in your application about the assumptions you already validated and those that are still in the process of validation. Mention the data/evidence you have that your customers/beneficiaries want your solution.

In the past, some nonprofits applying for Angels mentioned that they need the funds to run current programs – i.e. for core operational expenses. We observed that these applications are less likely to be successful: and less likely to be selected as Angels finalists or winners. As a result, in 2025, we are clear that the Angels Award is NOT to be used as a recurrent type of funding. Instead, think of Angels as a one-time funding opportunity that should enable your organization/project to scale and/or raise funds further. 

This is why we want to see the funds being used for EITHER:
- an initiative to innovate further on the current model – maybe you noticed bottlenecks in scaling your current initiatives – this is your opportunity to try to innovate on these bottlenecks
OR
- for scaling a current initiative - to a new segment of beneficiaries or a new region
OR
- a capacity-building effort to train the team or bring technology to enable the scaling of existing programs
 
Overall, imagine how you might use the Angels funds so that you strengthen your case for future recurrent funding from other sources.

Neorigins in India (for-profit), Foundatión Rofe in Colombia (nonprofit), Zebra Cropbank

in Nigeria (for-profit).

The recordings will be made available on this page 24 hours after the session ends.

Most questions about the program and the application process can be answered by reviewing this website and the FAQs above. If your question is unanswered, you may contact Damilola Kolawole at dkolawole@acumen.org cc’ing Kome Oruade at ooruade@acumen.org.