IFC proposes $20m commitment to Lighthouse India fund
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, is considering a commitment of up to $20 million in the third India-focused vehicle of Lighthouse Funds.
Lighthouse India Fund III launched earlier this year with a target of $200 million. IFC will invest either $20 million or 20% of the total fund commitments, whichever is smaller, according to a disclosure. Lighthouse plans to back lower mid-market companies in India in sectors including consumer goods, agriculture, construction, healthcare and financial services.
The fund is the successor to Lighthouse’s India 2020 Fund II, which launched in 2013 and closed two years later at $138 million. IFC committed $25 million to the vehicle, with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development finance arm of the US government, providing another $42 million.
Lighthouse primarily focuses on companies that can help consumers in India’s middle class meet their basic needs rather than providing access to glamorous but ultimately unnecessary luxury items. Investments along these lines include Cera Sanitaryware, a maker of bathroom fixtures, to which the firm committed INR706 million ($10.9 million) from its second fund in 2015.
IFC is an active LP in India: it claims to have committed $707 million to 34 funds since 2000. The Lighthouse investment is aimed partially at demonstrating the viability of Indian GPs, particularly those in the middle market that have faced a challenging fundraising environment in recent years, to other global investors.
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