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Measuring Impact
Agora Entrepreneurs are intent on measuring, evaluating, and amplifying their impact. As a pioneer GIIRS Fund (Global Impact Investing Rating System), Agora has worked with our entrepreneurs from the outset to initiate the process of obtaining GIIRS ratings that will validate the positive effects they have through their operations. The GIIRS ratings are driven by IRIS, the industry-recognized taxonomy and reporting standard developed by our peers at the Global Impact Investing Network and B Lab.
Agora cares about driving the growth of the businesses with which we work, and sees, as an extension of that mission, a need to contribute to the growth of the impact investing sector. Our focus on transparent and standardized reporting reflects this priority.
Charting a new course for development in Central America
Agora Entrepreneurs have the vision, leadership, and execution skills to lead fast-growing, competitive companies in some of the poorest regions of the Western Hemisphere. What makes them different from mom and pop businesses, or even regular high growth companies, is their commitment to impact. Agora Entrepreneurs run companies that solve social problems. Their hope is to create something much bigger than themselves – something that can materially make people’s lives better. They are bringing light to those without electricity and sustainable housing to those whose homes have been destroyed, or developing organic pesticide solutions that hold the promise of revolutionizing the region’s agricultural sector and supply chains that preserve and enhance the region’s resources. They do these things because they’re the right things to do and because it’s also good business. We support them because they represent a more efficient method to combat the scourges of poverty, inequality, and climate change than any other method we have seen.
Agora Entrepreneurs participate in the Accelerator program, measure IRIS-based social and/or environmental metrics, publicly report on them, and will be among the first entrepreneurs to be rated by the Global Impact Investing Reporting Standards (GIIRS).
Meet our Entrepreneurs
The inaugural Accelerator class consists of nine entrepreneurs operating across Central America. While their backgrounds and industry focuses are varied, their intentions are consistent. These entrepreneurs are committed to growing their bottom lines while boosting their local communities through job creation, sustainable ecological practices, and other tangible forms of social impact. When it comes to creating impact, they are the real deal. Get to know Agora Entrepreneurs by visiting their profiles.
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- Cafe Las Flores: Building a carbon neutral coffee company
- CO2 Bambu: Building thousands of low income houses out of bamboo and building a new bamboo economy in Nicaragua
- Kiej de los Bosques: Working with Mayan women to create a lifestyle brand for the global market
- Oscarito’s: Taking one of the most powerful global microfinance success stories to a whole new level through a children’s clothing company
- Ostuma Farms: Operating the most environmentally sustainable family farm in Nicaragua
- Plantech: Creating a new, natural fertilizer in Costa Rica
- Quetsol: Bringing light to 500,000 Guatemalan families
- Recelca: Recycling consumer electronic waste in Guatemala
- Tegu: Building a Lego-like company that can redefine Honduran manufacturing