How Did Brian Trelstad Invest In Ecotact?

Questin 1
Looking at the case as a whole and using the capability matrix assessment as a baseline for the analysis, it is highly recommended that Brian Trelstad invest in Ecotact. Ecotact’s mission is well aligned with that of Acumen. Ecotact’s founder, David Kuria’s goal was to make significant social impact by providing sanitation facilities in the underprivileged areas of Kenya, facilities that should have been provided by the public since the 1970s. Similarly, Acumen’s core goal is to invest in ventures that make an impact in the Base of Pyramid sector and that show potential to scale while bringing in return on investment. Additionally, Ecotact ranks high in its commitment to the Acumen Fund mission because it focuses on providing a solution
According to the assumptions provided in the case study, having 30 running facilities with an average of 450 visits per day, and while being open for 23 days a month, Ecotact serves more than 1 million people over the course of 5 years. This provides strong evidence that Ecotact has the potential to not only scale financially, but also make significant positive impacts to the base pyramid under consideration. Hence, arguably, Ecotact has the potential to be financially sustainable in less than five years. According to the projected income statement, they can recover their initial costs n investments and be profitable within the speculated two years. Ecotact also have a viable financial plan which provides a clearly stated revenue model that is fundamentally appealing. However, in reality these assumptions are unproven since they are mere projection from the capability matrix. Moreover, Ecotact has the ability to make a substantial social impact hence it ranks high in this category as well. The business model has been proven from the Practical Action Venture run by David Kuria, which successfully improved the sanitation in Nairobi’s Kibera slum. The service provided has the ability to drastically improve the lives of the poor in the region and also the potential for
Not because it won’t be profitable, but because Meridian’s social mission is not affiliated with that of Acumen’s. Subsequently, although Meridian currently makes an impact on the Base of the Pyramid sector, it more or less falls to their advantage of revenue acquisitions, not to the benefit of the public as a whole. Ideally, their core goal is to make the significant financial incomes and not to make the most beneficial impact. Hence, supported by the above discussion, investing on the Meridian would jeopardize the very fundamental goals and mission of