LeapFrog invests $29m in India’s IFMR Capital

This is the first investment from LeapFrog's second fund, made with a view to leveraging IFMR Capital's structuring expertise, reach and relationships across financial products and sectors in India, according to a statement.

Founded in 2008, IFMR Capital offers structured finance products across securitizations, bonds, commercial papers, and guarantees that enable risk transfer from originator institutions to diversified investors.

The company operates in 345 districts across 24 states in India. It delivers financial services to over 6.6 million borrowers and 7.6 million insured customers.

"The demand for financial springboards and safety nets in India is growing fast, on a very large scale; IFMR Capital recognised this need early. In a short time, they have built a high road between the capital markets and the institutions and India's emerging middle class," said Jim Roth, co-founder of LeapFrog.

LeapFrog claims that the 30 million micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in India today account for 45% of industrial output, yet only 5-10% have access to formal sources of funding.

It expects the market for financing such enterprises to grow from $1.5 billion to $6.35 billion by 2020. The total affordable housing shortage in the country represents a financing requirement of $185 billion.

Last year, LeapFrog's portfolio companies reached 19.5 million people across 13 countries, including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and South Africa. Over 15 million of these people are low-income consumers, the vast majority with limited access to financial services.

Rothschild acted as financial advisor to IFMR Capital.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Financials
• Expansion
• India
• Financial Services
• NBFCs
• Growth capital