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Acumen and SAP Collaborate to Catalyze Growth of Social Enterprises in East Africa and India

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Selected Social Entrepreneurs to Take Part in Silicon Valley Fellowship Program

NAIROBI, KENYA—April 22, 2015 – Acumen and SAP SE (NYSE: SAP), a global business software leader, are working together to accelerate the growth of social enterprises in East Africa and India. Bringing together Acumen’s 14 years of investing in early-stage social enterprises with SAP’s global business and innovation expertise, this unique collaboration will connect entrepreneurs from Acumen’s portfolio from across a wide spectrum of sectors and geographical borders to deepen their business capabilities and drive faster solutions to global poverty.

“Given the importance of building more inclusive and sustainable business models, we see an exciting opportunity to link global industry leaders such as SAP with the world’s emerging entrepreneurs, especially those focused on tackling major global challenges,” said Yasmina Zaidman, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Acumen.

At the core of the collaboration is the “Social Entrepreneur Fellowship,” a 100-day program that connects the selected CEOs with Silicon Valley leaders, influencers, and investors. The fellowship program, which builds upon SAP’s Emerging Entrepreneur Initiative, aims to address the shared challenges social enterprises face in emerging markets and equip the CEOs with business and technology expertise, as well as access to networks, to help them drive innovation and social impact in their respective countries.

“High-growth entrepreneurs have enormous potential to be major job engines in countries where the challenges, particularly around youth unemployment, are very high,” said Alicia Lenze, head of corporate social responsibility at SAP. “Bringing to bear SAP’s engaged employees and vast business network—we have the opportunity to propel these socially driven companies to further success in finding innovative solutions to critical social issues in East Africa and India.”

The CEOs will participate first in a two-week leadership development program in Silicon Valley in July, followed by 13 weeks of mentoring and technical support in their countries. At the fellowship’s end, the CEOs will have gained a more strategic view of growth for their companies along with a global network of social entrepreneurs, business experts, and investors who can help make that growth a reality. The first of the selected entrepreneurs were announced today at the SAP Forum Africa, the company’s information and communication technology conference in Nairobi. Representing a diverse mix of enterprises from Acumen’s portfolio focused on health care, education, and livelihoods, the CEOs include:

  • David Auerbach, Sanergy – Sanergy is a sanitation company that provides affordable toilets and waste management services to low-income areas in Kenya.
  • Ashifi Gogo, Sproxil – Sproxil is a mobile verification service that helps protect East African consumers from counterfeit medicine.
  • Willem Nolens, SolarNow – SolarNow is a renewable energy company selling and financing solar home systems for low-income communities in Uganda.
  • As more entrepreneurs continue to be selected, a complete list, along with bios, will be available at http://acumen.org/blog/catalyzing-the-growth-of-social-enterprises-with-sap.“These entrepreneurs recognize the importance of technology in bringing their companies to scale, and this fellowship will provide them with the support and technical expertise they need,” said Acumen’s East Africa Director Duncan Onyango. “Most importantly, the fellowship will create a global community of CEOs who will become invaluable resources for each other and build more effective organizations to serve East Africa.”About AcumenAcumen is working to change the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, leaders, and ideas. We invest patient capital in business models that deliver critical goods and services to the world’s poor, improving the lives of millions. Since 2001, Acumen has invested more than $88 million in 82 companies across South Asia and Africa. We are also working to build a global community of emerging leaders that believe in creating a more inclusive world through the tools of both business and philanthropy. Learn more at www.acumen.org  and on Twitter @Acumen.
  • SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.SAP Forward-looking Statement
    Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

    Contact:
    Carolyn Bielfeldt
    Associate Director of External Communications, Acumen 646.747.3968 | [email protected]

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