Grameen Foundation

What Grameen Foundation does

Grameen Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1997 by Alex Counts to advance Professor Muhammad Yunus's microfinance vision as a global poverty alleviation strategy. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with regional operations in India and the Philippines and field presence across 17 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands, the organization targets women and families in underserved rural communities. Its core service offerings operate under the proprietary Holistic Economic Resilience (HER) Framework, which integrates community agent networks (635,000+ female mobile agents, Grameen Mittras), Village Savings and Loan Associations digitized through the LedgerLink platform, Farmer Producer Organizations supported via the Digital Farming Platform, and tailored programs including AccelHERate (youth livelihoods), InvestHER (women entrepreneurs), TogetHER We Grow (women farmers), Program SAFE (financial abuse prevention), and Sparks for Change (household engagement).

The organization's technology stack includes satellite-enabled farm analytics (SAT4Farming), AI and AR financial literacy applications developed with Accenture Labs India, the MOTECH mobile health platform used in Ebola vaccine deployment, blockchain-based cash transfer systems via Celo, and digital tools like TaroWorks for field operations. Underlying infrastructure also encompasses subsidiaries Grameen Capital India and Grameen Impact Investment India, which provide financial advisory and non-bank financing to social enterprises in India.

Grameen Foundation is funded through a diversified base of foundation grants, corporate donations, and individual contributions. Major institutional supporters include Walmart Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, JPMorgan, and USAID. Donor-facing programs are structured around tiered recurring gifts (e.g., $10/month for AccelHERate, $84/month or $1,000 for InvestHER, $100/month for TogetHER We Grow). Since the 2016 merger with Freedom from Hunger, the organization reports impacting 29 million people, with a stated 2030 goal of moving 10 million women and families out of poverty. In November 2025, Grameen Foundation announced a strategic Alliance with Yunus Social Business, consolidating organizational leadership under a Global CEO structure with India as the hub.

Name

Grameen Foundation

Legal name

Grameen Foundation USA

Website

https://grameenfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Grameen Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1997 that uses mobile agent networks, digital platforms, and partner organizations to deliver financial inclusion, climate-smart agriculture, and economic empowerment programs for women and families across 17 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development & Financial Inclusion Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA), Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (BPAGAGAI)

Keywords

• Microfinance services
• Financial inclusion programs
• Smallholder farmer support
• Women empowerment programs
• Community development services

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants and Donations: Grameen Foundation operates primarily as a nonprofit organization funded by foundation grants, corporate donations, and individual contributions. Major funders include Walmart Foundation, Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, JP Morgan, USAID, and others. The organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with Fed Tax ID 73-1502797.
2. Impact Investing: Grameen Foundation makes capital market investments in companies, funds, and joint ventures to create capital for social enterprises. This includes Grameen Capital India and Grameen Impact Investment India, which provide financing to microfinance institutions and social enterprises.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Grameen Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that enables the poor, especially women, to create a world without poverty and hunger. It operates programs and digital platforms that connect women and families to financial services, training, and resources; supports a network of more than 635,000 mobile agents and community organizations; and channels grants from foundations, governments, and corporations to deliver field programs in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific.

Product overview

Grameen Foundation operates as a non-profit organization with a portfolio of interconnected programs designed to alleviate poverty and hunger by empowering women. The core offerings include: AccelHERate (supporting young women through mobile money agent opportunities), InvestHER (supporting women entrepreneurs via the LedgerLink digital platform), TogetHER We Grow (supporting women farmers with climate-smart agriculture through the MANDI initiative and Digital Farming Platform), Program SAFE (safeguarding women from financial abuse), Sparks for Change (household engagement programs), and Grameen Mittra (community agent networks). Supporting infrastructure includes Bankers without Borders volunteer network, Grameen Capital India and Grameen Impact Investment India subsidiaries, and the MOTECH mobile health platform. These programs are designed to work together under the Holistic Economic Resilience (HER) Framework to move 10 million women and their families out of poverty by 2030.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bankers without Borders (BwB): Grameen Foundation's executive volunteer initiative launched in 2008 that connects business professionals, academics, and students from around the world as volunteers with high-potential social enterprises and nonprofits. Has grown to over 26,500 volunteers from 170+ countries.
• Grameen Mittra
• AccelHERate
• InvestHER
• TogetHER, We Grow
• Program SAFE
• Sparks for Change
• LedgerLink

Products and services

• AccelHERate
• InvestHER
• TogetHER, We Grow
• Program SAFE
• Sparks for Change
• MANDI (Market Access eNabled by Digital Innovation)
• Bankers without Borders (BwB)
• Grameen Capital India
• Grameen Impact Investment India
• LedgerLink
• Digital Farming Platform
• MOTECH
• Grameen Mittra / Community Agent Network (CAN)
• WomenLink
• SAT4Farming
• Conectadas Digital Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• 29 million people directly impacted since 2016 merger
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Yunus Social BusinesscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 November 2025Strategic Alliance uniting Grameen Foundation and Yunus Social Business to accelerate sustainable solutions to poverty and hunger. Combines GF's nearly three decades of investing in women farmers and entrepreneurs with YSB's pioneering work in social business investment. Will scale inclusive finance, agribusiness initiatives, and innovative agricultural solutions with global presence and locally led leadership.
• Rabo FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 April 2024Copra Capacity Development Project to strengthen five agricultural copra cooperatives in Davao Region, equipping them to become 'investment-ready' entities. Focus on building organizational strength, enhancing business capacity, and supporting local cooperatives.
• Barry CallebautcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 November 2022Five-year Sustainable Coconut Project in Davao region of Philippines, designed to improve 25,000 smallholder farmers' copra production and incomes and connect them to markets while ensuring positive social and environmental impacts. Funded by Barry Callebaut in support of its Sustainable Coconut Oil Strategy.
• Celo FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2020Alliance for Prosperity to build financial tools for smartphone owners, with Grameen Foundation among 50 initial member organizations.
• CelocoreTechnology or IntegrationBlockchain-enabled cash support and training program (Social Dividend Campaign) for 800 Filipino workers hit hardest by COVID-19, leveraging Celo's blockchain technology for emergency relief distribution.
• Accenture Labs IndiacoreTechnology or IntegrationDevelopment of AI and AR tools to help increase adoption of financial services among low-income women, including Emotional Analytics for Social Enterprises and Grameen Guru.
• Rainforest AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAT4Farming consortium bringing satellite technology to benefit smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana, aiming to help 240,000 farmers increase yields by up to 300%.
• Grameen Capital IndiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFinancial advisory firm helping socially focused organizations in India obtain capital to grow and reach more clients. Current shareholders include L&T Finance, Grameen Foundation, and Citicorp Finance.
• Grameen Impact Investment IndiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-bank financial institution backed by Grameen Capital India, providing financing to high impact social enterprises in India including financial services, affordable healthcare, affordable education, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture.
• HarvestPlus / GAINminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to increase food, nutrition, and livelihoods security through production, consumption, and marketing of conventionally bred biofortified crops in India.
• PaytmminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide job-oriented training to rural women and youth to help increase financial literacy and inclusion in India.
• Millicom / TigominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConectadas platform for digital skilling and inclusion of women and girls in Latin America, with over 560,000 women trained through the program.
• World Food ProgrammeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint commitment to advance financial inclusion of persons with disabilities at Global Disability Summit 2025.
• OikoCreditminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVirtual event partnership on state of health financial and non-financial services in Latin America.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BRAC: One of the world's largest development NGOs, also originating in Bangladesh with deep microfinance and women's empowerment programs targeting the ultra-poor; directly comparable in mission, scale, and microfinance heritage to Grameen Foundation.
• Opportunity International: Global microfinance organization providing financial services to people in poverty; comparable mission and target population to Grameen's Community Agent and InvestHER programs.
• FINCA International: Microfinance and social enterprise network serving low-income entrepreneurs across Africa, Asia, and Latin America; comparable financial inclusion mission and Village Banking model.
• Kiva: Crowdfunding microfinance platform enabling individuals to lend to underserved entrepreneurs globally; comparable financial inclusion mission and tech-enabled distribution model.
• Accion: Global nonprofit committed to financial inclusion through responsible lending and innovation; comparable focus on financial services for the underbanked and emerging-market distribution models.
• Heifer International: Poverty and hunger-focused nonprofit working with smallholder farmers through sustainable agriculture and livestock value chains; closely comparable to Grameen's TogetHER We Grow and SAT4Farming programs.
• Yunus Social Business: Social business-focused organization co-founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus that incubated and invested in social enterprises; directly comparable mission and now formally allied with Grameen Foundation.

Broad incumbents

• CARE: Large international humanitarian NGO fighting global poverty with a strong focus on women and girls; broader portfolio than Grameen but overlapping in financial inclusion, agriculture, and women's empowerment themes.
• Mercy Corps: Global humanitarian and development organization working in fragile markets with programs in financial inclusion, agriculture, and economic recovery; broader geographic and thematic scope but overlapping target customers.

Emerging players

• Acumen: Impact investor using philanthropic capital to build early-stage companies serving the poor; comparable in mission to Grameen Impact Investment India and YSB's blended-finance approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/grameenfdn
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/grameen
• Facebookfacebook.com/StopPovertyNow
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/20681
• Instagraminstagram.com/grameen_foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grameen Foundation