Village Enterprise

What Village Enterprise does

Village Enterprise is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1987 and headquartered in the United States, operating the largest independent poverty graduation program in Africa across 10 countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, DRC, Congo-Brazzaville, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Tanzania). The organization's core product is a poverty graduation model that equips ultra-poor women, refugees, and youth in rural Africa with entrepreneurship training, seed capital, savings group formation, and ongoing business mentorship delivered through locally-hired community business mentors. The model has been validated by two independent randomized controlled trials demonstrating a 534% return on investment, and the DREAMS for Refugees program (jointly implemented with Mercy Corps) extends this methodology with market systems development across refugee settlements in Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.

The business model is donation-funded rather than commercially-priced, with FY25 revenue of $21.3M sourced from foundation grants ($8.8M, including IKEA Foundation, Gates Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation), individual donations ($5.8M), government and multilateral funding ($5.6M, historically including USAID and FCDO), corporate giving ($273K), and other income ($827K). Programs are delivered free to beneficiaries through direct field operations, while the organization generates supplementary scale through technical assistance to African governments, replication partnerships with NGOs, and the Development Impact Bond structure (the first for poverty alleviation in Africa). Operations are supported by 351 staff (94% African) and an expanding footprint including a new Africa headquarters in Nairobi opened in 2025.

The organization's go-to-market combines community-led direct delivery with government partnerships for national-scale poverty graduation integration. Notable recent moves include expansion to Nigeria (first West Africa entry, 2025), the appointment of Sazini Mojapelo as the first Africa-based CEO (February 2026), and a $2M Strategic Response Fund following the January 2025 USAID funding disruption.

Name

Village Enterprise

Legal name

Village Enterprise

Website

https://villageenterprise.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Village Enterprise is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating Africa's largest poverty graduation program across 10 countries, equipping ultra-poor women, refugees, and youth with entrepreneurship training, seed capital, and mentorship to launch sustainable micro-businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development / Poverty Alleviation Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Rural Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment (BPAGABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Workforce Readiness, Career Pathways & Youth Employment Nonprofits (BPAGADAF), Small Business & Entrepreneurship Community Education (EDAAAFAK), Education, Skills & Workforce Development Aid Programs (BPADABAE)

Keywords

• Poverty alleviation programs
• Entrepreneurship training
• Microenterprise development
• Economic empowerment
• Rural development services

Headquarters

HQ city

San Carlos

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Revenue from individual donors contributing to poverty alleviation programs. In FY25, individuals contributed $5,833,084.
2. Foundation Grants: Major foundation funding including IKEA Foundation, Gates Foundation, Arcus Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and others. In FY25, foundations contributed $8,802,891.
3. Government and Multilateral Funding: Funding from governments and multilateral organizations including USAID, FCDO/BOMA, and development banks. In FY25, governments and multilaterals contributed $5,641,456.
4. Corporate Partnerships: Corporate giving and foundation support including Whole Foods Market Foundation and others. In FY25, corporations contributed $272,704.
5. Development Impact Bond (DIB): Results-based financing mechanism - first DIB for poverty alleviation in Africa. Investors provide upfront capital, outcomes payer pays upon verified results.
6. Other Income: Miscellaneous revenue including investment returns and other sources. In FY25, other income was $826,869.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Village Enterprise delivers a poverty graduation program that equips ultra-poor women, refugees, and youth in rural Africa with entrepreneurship training, startup cash grants, savings group formation, and one-on-one business mentorship delivered by locally hired business mentors over a one-year cycle. Its programs are provided free of charge to beneficiaries and funded through donations, foundation grants, government aid, and innovative financing mechanisms including a Development Impact Bond. The organization also offers Technical Assistance to governments and NGOs seeking to replicate its poverty graduation model at scale.

Product overview

Village Enterprise is a nonprofit poverty alleviation organization that offers a comprehensive poverty graduation program portfolio centered on entrepreneurship training, seed capital, and mentorship. The core Poverty Graduation Program forms the foundation, while DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems) extends this model specifically for refugees in partnership with Mercy Corps. The organization also provides Technical Assistance to help governments and NGOs replicate its model, operates an innovative Development Impact Bond as a results-based financing mechanism, and delivers Climate Resilience & Conservation Programs through partnerships with Wildlife Conservation Society and African Wildlife Foundation. Additional offerings include the Impact First Initiative for social outcomes financing and Technology & Innovation solutions for rural entrepreneurs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DREAMS: Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems - an award-winning program implemented by Village Enterprise and Mercy Corps designed to help refugees build self-reliance and lift themselves out of extreme poverty through entrepreneurship and market systems development.
• DREAMS for Refugees

Products and services

• Poverty Graduation Program
• DREAMS for Refugees (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems)
• Village Enterprise Development Impact Bond (DIB)
• Village Enterprise Extend / Technical Assistance Model
• Impact First Initiative

Quantifiable outcome

• 534% return on investment - $5.34 generated for every $1 donated
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• Government of Kaduna State, NigeriasupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Village Enterprise providing technical assistance to Nigeria's Kaduna State Government for Ultra-Poor Graduation Program, supporting 1,200 women and young people to launch small businesses.
• Dan Church AidsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2025Partner organization where DREAMS entrepreneurs like Viola serve as certified trainers for young women in hairdressing.
• Palm CorpssupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2025Local partner where DREAMS entrepreneurs train participants in business skills, with graduates going on to start their own businesses.
• GIZsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner providing solar power programs to DREAMS entrepreneurs, connecting refugee business owners to sustainable energy solutions for their enterprises.
• Mercy CorpscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems) is an award-winning partnership combining Village Enterprise's poverty graduation model with Mercy Corps' market systems development expertise. The program helps refugees build self-reliance through sustainable micro-businesses and market connections.
• Ngogo Chimpanzee ProjectsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2021PARKS (Poverty Alleviation and Removal of Kibale Snares) project in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Partnership to reduce poverty while protecting endangered East African chimpanzees through sustainable business development.
• UN WomencoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partnership on Economic Empowerment through Climate-Smart Agriculture in West Pokot, Kenya, training 809 entrepreneurs (87% women) for sustainable agribusiness.
• World VisionsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership to implement Village Enterprise's poverty graduation model in Mozambique following Cyclone Idai devastation, with goal of establishing 800 businesses.
• Government of RwandacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Memorandum of Understanding with Rwandan government to co-design poverty graduation and climate resilience outcomes project. Partnership with Gicumbi District for two-year poverty graduation pilot.
• Government of KenyacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership on Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Project (KSEIP) to integrate poverty graduation model into existing social protection programs. Village Enterprise provided technical assistance for Kenya's first Ultra-Poor Graduation Strategy.
• African Wildlife FoundationsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Partnership to provide technical assistance in remote, protected reserves in the DRC. Joint efforts to reduce poaching near conservation areas while alleviating poverty.
• IDinsightsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2017Independent evaluator for Village Enterprise's randomized controlled trials and Development Impact Bond, providing rigorous impact assessment of poverty graduation programs.
• Innovations for Poverty ActionsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2017Conducted randomized controlled trials of Village Enterprise's poverty graduation model in Uganda and Kenya to evaluate impacts on households living in extreme poverty.
• Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Nearly decade-long partnership addressing extreme poverty and wildlife conservation simultaneously. Programs in DRC, Congo-Brazzaville equip families near protected areas to start sustainable businesses, reducing illegal hunting and logging while protecting gorillas and okapis.
• FHI 360supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2014Partnership for first USAID grant to study how Village Enterprise's model can best meet needs of young people in rural Africa.
• BRACsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2013Partnership for independent randomized controlled trial in Uganda evaluating Village Enterprise's poverty graduation program.
• Jane Goodall InstitutesupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Conservation collaboration launched in Uganda focusing on community-based conservation and livelihood programs.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves15 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Mercy Corps: Mercy Corps is a large international development NGO and Village Enterprise's partner in the award-winning DREAMS for Refugees program. They bring market systems development expertise that complements Village Enterprise's graduation model; they overlap heavily in target geographies and refugee programming.
• CARE International: CARE is a major international humanitarian and development NGO operating across Africa with poverty alleviation, women's economic empowerment, and food security programs. Overlaps in target population (women in extreme poverty) and geographies, but offers a much broader program portfolio.
• World Vision: World Vision is a large international humanitarian organization that partnered with Village Enterprise to implement the poverty graduation program in Mozambique after Cyclone Idai. Overlaps in target population and geographies, with a much broader program portfolio.

Direct peers

• BRAC: BRAC is the world's largest development nonprofit and one of the original implementers of the poverty graduation model that Village Enterprise uses. They were Village Enterprise's RCT partner in Uganda and operate similar graduation programs across Africa and Asia.
• Acumen: Acumen is a nonprofit impact investor that invests in early-stage social enterprises serving the poor in Africa and South Asia. Comparable in mission to end poverty through market-based approaches, with overlap in African geographies and entrepreneur-focused investment models.
• Heifer International: Heifer International works with rural smallholder farmers to lift households out of poverty through livestock, training, and market access across Africa and globally. Comparable mission, rural African target population, and livelihoods-plus-training model.
• Trickle Up: Trickle Up is a nonprofit that pioneered the poverty graduation approach targeting ultra-poor households, particularly women, with cash grants, coaching, and savings groups. Highly comparable in methodology, target population, and geographies (India, West Africa, Latin America).
• Opportunity International: Opportunity International provides microfinance, savings, and business training to entrepreneurs living in poverty across Africa and other emerging markets. Comparable in providing capital and training to first-time entrepreneurs in similar rural African settings.
• GiveDirectly: GiveDirectly delivers unconditional cash transfers to extremely poor households in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and other African countries. Directly comparable in serving the same ultra-poor rural African population and in rigorous RCT-evidenced approach to poverty alleviation.

Others

• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA): IPA conducted the independent RCTs of Village Enterprise's poverty graduation program in Uganda and Kenya. A research and evaluation partner rather than direct competitor, but highly comparable in mission focus on evidence-based poverty alleviation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@village_enterprise
• Facebookfacebook.com/VillageEnterprise.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/village-enterprise-fund
• Instagraminstagram.com/village_enterprise
• TikToktiktok.com/@villageenterprise
• Xx.com/village_ent

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles23 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Village Enterprise