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Entrepreneur Criteria
Agora Partnerships looks for motivated entrepreneurs dedicated to making a difference within their communities. When looking to partner with an entrepreneur or entrepreneurial company, we consider three factors - entrepreneur, company, and social impact.
Entrepreneur
- Growth-focused: Entrepreneurs are committed to launching or growing a company that can make a major impact in their community. They have the skills and the potential to build strong teams, manage people and execute the business plan. They believe they can make a difference, are comfortable with ambiguity, willing to take risks and eager to learn. Most of all, they are hungry to create change and impact and improve their communities through enterprise.
- Shares Agora’s values and vision: Entrepreneurs are committed to operating a business in a socially and environmentally responsible manner, no matter how small the business may be. They believe in serving the four key stakeholders of any business: customers, shareholders, employees and future generations. They are committed to using the business as a positive agent of change in society and delivering true blended value. They are willing and able to become role models and to help encourage a culture of socially responsible entrepreneurship.
- Prepared to enter into a long term financial partnership: They are looking for trusted partners, not charity, and understand the need for venture capital investment to grow their company. They are committed to the best interest of the business and the highest standards of financial controls, accountability and transparency. They understand and appreciate that outside investors eventually need to exit the business with a positive return in order to mobilize additional capital to help more entrepreneurs like themselves.
Company
Agora prefers to work with companies with the following characteristics:- Possess a clearly defined constraint to growth that can be addressed though investment of equity and debt between US$25,000 to $250,000.
- Operate in sectors where developing countries have a natural competitive or comparative advantage such as eco-tourism, sustainable agriculture, value-added manufacturing and agricultural processing, organic foods.
- Are cash flow positive or can become cash flow positive within 18 months.
- Are innovative – providing a product or service that is new or that reaches out to a new customer base.
Social Impact
- Company must be able to create a clear and articulated social impact – whether through jobs, protecting the environment, or providing products or services to low income populations.
- Companies must comply with Agora's corporate social responsibility policy and operate in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectation that society has of business.
- Agora will not partner with companies on the IFC exclusion list or those that do not support the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact.