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Image credit: Temasek

Brief: Temasek invests $500m into impact fund LeapFrog

March 10, 2021

  • Singapore sovereign fund Temasek has invested $500 million into LeapFrog Investments, an impact-focussed private equity firm.
  • The pair said Temasek’s commitment will take the form of a “multi-fund investment […] to anchor LeapFrog’s future funds.” The Singaporean firm is also taking a minority stake in LeapFrog and will provide growth capital to expand its capabilities in Asia and Africa.
  • The two firms said the deal represents the largest-ever commitment to an impact investor.

Why it matters:

Founded in 2007, London-based LeapFrog primarily invests in African and Asian companies, with a focus on improving access to financial services and healthcare for low-income consumers.

It claims its portfolio companies reach 212 million consumers and employ over 130,000 workers across 35 countries, with their businesses growing 30% on average each year following its first investment.

While LeapFrog hasn’t focussed on agrifoodtech to date, it has backed companies seeking to positively impact the lives of low-income farmers and their communities – such as Magma, a financing and insurance provider targeting rural consumers in India.

AgFunder has launched its own impact fund. Read why here

Last year, Temasek revealed it had invested almost $5 billion in the agrifood sector since 2015, backing companies ranging from deep-tech startups like Pivot Bio and Tropic Biosciences to the new wave of alt-protein brands like Impossible Foods and Perfect Day.

The state-linked firm said its agrifood strategy seeks to deliver impact by bringing greater efficiency to farming, reducing the sector’s environmental footprint, creating healthier foods, and improving access to nutrition for lower-income groups. This will likely influence LeapFrog’s own investment strategy going forward.

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