LGT acquires India impact investor
LGT Group has acquired a majority stake in Indian impact investor Aspada from an investment arm of Open Society Foundations, a George Soros-founded charitable institute.
Open Society, previously the sole shareholder, will maintain an interest via the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF). LGT will absorb Aspada into its global impact platform known as Lightstone. Its Indian operations will now be branded under the name Lightstone-Aspada.
Aspada invests across a number of themes related to digital inclusion and small business finance. It manages a $17 million venture capital fund backed by SEDF, Omidyar Network and Google that makes early to growth-stage investments across agricultural supply chains, logistics, financial services, education and healthcare.
The fund, known as SONG, has completed 20 deals and realized five exits to date. Standout investments include NeoGrowth Credit, a small business lending services provider that has raised about $90 million, including a $47 million round last year. Overall, the current Aspada portfolio represents more than $100 million in invested capital, according to a release.
Lightstone-Aspada will deploy in a range of $4-40 million per deal and provide support in the form of human capital development, strategic planning, capital raising, back-office management, and governance. Kartik Srivatsa, a managing partner at Aspada, said technology would be a strong focus, as well as solving for sectoral changes through a "systems-thinking" approach.
"We view each of our target sectors as a value chain continuum with companies that provide core provision, supply chains, financing and emerging technologies," Srivatsa said in a separate statement. "We believe that the whole can be greater than sum of the parts if there is a path to collaboration among companies."
Lightstone has five existing portfolio companies in India, including Waycool, a fresh produce distributor for small-hold farmers, and Lithium, an electric vehicle fleet services company. Financial inclusion investments include microlending services provider Aye Finance, home loans specialist Ummeed, and Varthana, an education financier that raised a $55 million round last year.
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