One of the largest impact investors globally managing assets of about $1.5 billion, LeapFrog Investments, will consider ramping up its exposure to India, a critical geography for the growth-stage investor, as it looks to scout for more deals in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is said that LeapFrog will invest more into Asia’s third-largest economy than what it has done historically.

The London-based firm, which has pumped in an estimated $200 million in local ventures, may look to allocate as much as 20 per cent of its third fund - a $750 million investment vehicle - which it launched last year, to India.

"We plan to put more capital into India, and increase the amount beyond what we have historically put in. The digital evolution in India has been massively accelerated by the telcos, in particular, Jio. The context of a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, and a highly-accelerated digitisation, along with now Covid-19, has created a vast opportunity to reach out to lower-income people, and the last mile, which is real India," says Andrew Kuper, Founder & Chief Executive.

This comes at a time when the pandemic has ravaged economies across the globe, with the Indian economy also contracting sharply and its gross domestic product (GDP) growth expected to contract by more than 6 per cent, according to reports.

"This is absolutely a difficult period for India, as well as for a number of countries in which we invest, and one shouldn’t understate just how hard and grave the conditions are for many families and for a lot of business. We remain, both short-term and long-term, committed to India. In some instances, Covid-19 also creates opportunities to have an impact, and to make good investments," mentions Kuper.

LeapFrog has also appointed Bharat Doshi, former group CFO and executive director at the Mahindra Group, to its global leadership council.

The global impact investment firm has so far exited Shriram CCL, the group's financial services distribution arm, and Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd. It currently has nine companies in India in its portfolio, including Ascent Meditech, MedGenome, Northern Arc, Dvara, Fincare, Magma and NeoGrowth.

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