Leapfrog breaks impact investing record, with its $700m emerging markets fund

Leapfrog breaks impact investment record with its LeapFrog Emerging Consumer Fund III, raising $700 million, surpassing it target of $600 million and building on its predecessor’s $400 million capital raised in 2014

The Fund III, the largest ever private equity fund by a dedicated impact fund manager, will tap into the demand from billions of emerging consumers in Asia and Africa by investing in healthcare and financial services companies.

Investors range from leading insurers, pensions and asset managers, development finance institutions to foundations and family offices including Stiftung Abendrot and Christian Super; the Rockefeller Foundation, The Ford Foundation. and Merck & Co, as well as global insurers Admiral, AIG, Hannover Re and Prudential Financial, Inc.

“This announcement marks an unprecedented level of commitment to independent impact investment managers, with a new fund backed by diverse best-in-class institutional investors. It also marks an important moment for responsible private equity said Dr. Andrew Kuper, Founder and CEO of LeapFrog Investments.

The fund has already been utilised to make five investments in global PayTech WorldRemit; Indian SME lender NeoGrowth; East African healthcare provider Goodlife Pharmacy; Pyramid Pharma; a distributor of medicines and diagnostic and surgical equipment across Africa; and Ascent Meditech, a manufacturer and supplier of orthopaedic products across India that working to assist those with crippling pain.

The new fundraising will take LeapFrog to $1.6 billion in total commitments.