Acumen: Year in Review

In late 2021, Aureli Ventures invested in Acumen Network. The team at Acumen are piloting an exciting take on micro-finance in El Salvador, with the vision to help thousands lift themselves out of poverty by giving them access to cheaper capital. 

At present, in developing economies, it is difficult for small and micro-businesses to obtain fiat loans without being subject to extremely high interest rates and shorter loan terms. This is in spite of how, in countries such as El Salvador, roughly 66% of the nation’s 1.2 million businesses are micro-businesses or ‘subsistence’ businesses; the so-called ‘growth engines’ of these economies. 90% of these microbusinesses are self-funded through informal loans or loan sharks. 

By providing cheaper access to fiat loans for the unbanked and helping them to create a credit history, Acumen’s protocol has the potential to strengthen the economy of countries such as El Salvador. Since our investment was made last year, one of the decentralised finance (De-Fi) protocol's biggest strengths has proved to be its close relationship with the Salvadoran government and banking sphere. It is the first De-Fi protocol ever to be given registered lender status by a central bank. They have also partnered with El Salvador's National Commission for Micro and Small Enterprises (CONAMYPE), a government entity that will work with Acumen to provide micro-financing loans to local informal entrepreneurs and self-employed workers nationwide.

The team at Acumen deeply appreciates the importance of permeating the barrier between existing systems and the blockchain. The interest rate provided by stablecoin-backed loans using their protocol would be lower than that of informal lenders, loan sharks or even banks. Having filled out their stable decentralised application (stable-dapp) pilot, the significant impact that Acumen has had on local communities is evident from the documentary that premiered at Nearcon by Monica Taher, the head of the Technological & Economic International Affairs in the Government of El Salvador. 

Aureli Ventures continues to support Acumen as it expands to new chains and new markets to do DeFi and do good.

Watch the Acumen documentary: www.youtu.be/C-qg7eRlLtE?t=4044

Learn more about Acumen here: www.acumen.network