Motilal Oswal PE plans $59m impact investment fund
Motilal Oswal Private Equity plans to raise an impact investment fund with a corpus of INR2.5-3 billion ($47-59 million) that will target socially relevant businesses.
According to The Economic Times, this signals an entry into a new asset class for the firm, which currently manages two funds that provide growth capital for mid-market companies as well as a real estate fund.
Somak Ghosh, the newly-appointed co-CEO of Motilal Oswal, said the impact investment fund will be raised in the first half of 2013. It will have a 10-year life cycle with the option of two one-year extensions, and will primarily look at investment opportunities across the food, agriculture, healthcare, education and micro-housing sectors.
"Over the last five or six years, a number of successful examples have come to the fore, where one can have a very high impact, and not compromise on financial returns," Ghosh said.
The impact investment space has traditionally been dominated by social venture capital funds such as Aavishkaar Venture, Acumen Fund and Lok Capital. However, in recent times, commercial venture capital firms such as Matrix Partners India and Tata Capital have targeted companies that cater to the country's rural population.
Earlier this year, Tata Capital co-invested INR370 million into Chennai-based Vortex Engineering, which develops ATMs for rural areas.
In September, Motilal Oswal Private Equity announced plans to tap institutional investors and high net worth individuals for a real estate fund worth up to INR6 billion.
More on South Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.