Dear friends of Lightrock,

2024 has already proved exciting and is set to be a memorable year. So far it has delivered the Lunar New Year of the Dragon, an extra day in the diary, and major religious festivities including the start of Ramadan, Holi, and Easter Sunday. It will also bring in a total solar eclipse, both the Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games, and elections in over 75 nations!

Eventful change is similarly present in Lightrock’s offices, thanks to our team’s hard work and commitment. We are delighted to showcase the strides we have made during the first few months of the year. Highlights include our recent certification as a B Corp, the addition of two new companies to Lightrock’s portfolio, and some compelling insights from our team and portfolio companies.

We trust that you will find this newsletter both informative and enjoyable.

With our best wishes,

The Global Lightrock Team

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‍Lightrock Updates

In the first month of 2024, we announced that Lightrock was certified as a B Corp!

This recognition demonstrates our dedication to social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability across factors including supply chain practices, employee benefits, and carbon footprint management.

Completing this rigorous assessment process has seen Lightrock join a prestigious community of just 1,800 UK-based B Corps and achieve a score of 112.4 on our first certification – surpassing the national average of 95.

Commenting on the success, Pal Erik Sjatil, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Lightrock, said: “Lightrock's certification as a B Corp is are sounding endorsement of our platform's unwavering commitment to positive impact as well as a testament to the dedication of our purpose-driven professional and founders worldwide. Achieving B Corp status marks a significant milestone for Lightrock, yet it equally signifies an acknowledgment of the continuous journey of improvement ahead. We eagerly look forward to building on this success and further demonstrating how Lightrock can be a force for good.”

Read our full announcement here.

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Portfolio Progress

Lightrock’s portfolio companies aim to address the world’s greatest challenges. See some recent examples of their progress below:

Africa

4G Capital, an award-winning financial inclusion-focused neobank affording 100% unsecured business loans in Kenya and Uganda, has been showcased as an exemplary model of how B Corps can balance their mission-driven nature with the pursuit of profit in B Lab’s latest white paper.

Moniepoint, a leading Africa-focused payments and banking platform, reported an excellent 2023 as its business grew to manage more than 433 million monthly transactions across its payment channels. The value of these transactions was over $150 billion and represented a 205% increase from 2022.

Europe & North America

Aerones, a leading provider of robot-enabled blade care systems for wind turbines, secured a grant of €4.4 million from the European Innovation Fund to support the construction and implementation of an innovative new solution: the world’s first blade leading edge repair robot sets.

Sunfire, a green hydrogen specialist seeking to replace the use of fossil fuels in carbon-intensive industries, has secured more than €500 million in funding and has become one of the best-capitalised electrolyser manufacturers in the industry.

India‍

Sukoon, India’s first mental health care clinic providing help with psychiatry, mental health, and addiction, has partnered with five top insurance companies to offer cashless insurance coverage for inpatient treatment, enhancing accessibility and affordability for patients across India.

Yubi, a digital debt and credit platform focusing on encouraging entrepreneurship and raising living standards, has entered into co-lending partnerships with Axis Bank and Muthoot Microfin, which are aimed at improving access to capital for underserved communities.

Latin America

Eduardo della Maggiora, founder and CEO of Betterfly, a Chilean insure-tech platform rewarding employees’ healthy behaviours, discusses how AI can enhance the quality of life for employees and society more broadly if deployed responsibly by insurers, businesses, and other stakeholders.

Konfío,  Mexico’s largest online lending platform for SMEs, has granted 1,500 million  pesos worth of SME-boosting loans in the budding nearshoring hub of Nuevo  León. Konfío has proved so popular in this region that they are now lending  more than many of the commercial banks operating in the area.

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In The News

Lightrock Partner Ashish (Ash) Puri sat down with Charles Avery of New Private Markets to consider the widening finance gap between climate mitigation vs. climate adaption investments, how to safeguard existing infrastructure from climate change-related problems, and the positive impact of companies like AiDash.

Real Deals’s Shivani Khandekar and Lightrock Partner Kevin Bone talked through our recent investment in Velocys. He explained how Lightrock pursued its first ever take-private, why we found the company’s proposition compelling and how the Madison Bidco consortium aims to drive both value and impact.

Lightrock Partner Arul Thomas spoke to Nayantara Jha from WeeTracker to explain the company’s activities and impact within Africa, which has collectively raised $2 billion, and to highlight how Africa’s private equity landscape holds promising potential for investors.

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Lightrock Live

Between the 27th and 29th February, Lightrock attended the Latin American Forum on Impact Investing (FLII) in Mexico. Investment Team member Ahmad El Jurdi spoke to investors and entrepreneurs on investing in the Global South. For further information, click here.

Lightrock also attended Brazil's South Summit from the 20th to 22nd March. Partner Marcos Wilson Pereira discussed balancing generating returns with supporting socially and environmentally impactful companies. For additional details, click here.

Lightrock is partnering with New Private Markets for its Impact Investor Global Summit 2024 in London on the 14th and 15th May, with our Head of Impact Dr Marc Moser contributing to a panel discussion on Day 2. Click here for more information on the summit and tickets. Friends of Lightrock are able to secure a 10% discount off on the cost of a pass. Please use the following discount code: impactgs24-speaker

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