Dear friends of Lightrock,
We are back with the last edition of the Lightrock newsletter in 2022, as we wrap up an intense year and get ready for a short break.
All of us at Lightrock have had an exceptionally busy run-up to the festive season, which means we have another packed edition of the newsletter; bursting with exciting content ranging from new investments to an overview of our companies’ incredible positive impact on people, the planet and productivity.
Before we dive into those recent developments, we are keen to use the opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you, from the ambitious entrepreneurs who have allowed us to be apart of their journey, the investors who have placed their trust in us, all our co-investors with whom we have collaborated so closely, to our friends and supporters across the globe. 2022 has been a challenging year for the world – and we are grateful that - through backing our portfolio companies - we have been able to make a small contribution to alleviating global challenges, which have grown more acute.
With the support of you, our global community, our investment team has deployed $390 million in 16 new companies this year and a further $290 million across 28 follow-ons to fuel the ambitions of our purpose-driven entrepreneurs1. We have closed two new funds this year, raising more than $1 billion2 to back ambitious growth-stage founders. We grew the Lightrock team by nearly 20% and welcomed 25 new colleagues who have brought new capabilities to our global teams and enriched our organisation with their contributions.
We hope that you enjoy reading the following updates and wish you a pleasant holiday season and a Happy New Year.
With warm regards,
The Lightrock Global Team
Lightrock Updates
New investments
We are delighted to share with you the latest companies and founders to join the Lightrock family.
Europe
We have invested in US battery-tech leader Group14 Technologies as part of their $614 million Series C. Group14’s silicon material, SCC55™, significantly enhances the performance parameters of batteries, supporting the decarbonisation and electrification of a range of industries. Read the Wall Street Journal’s report here.
Latin America
Lightrock led the recent $27 million Series B of Brazilian agribusiness-focused financial institution, Agrolend. Agrolend aims to revolutionise the agribusiness market in Brazil for underserved SME farmers by offering easy, fast and bureaucracy-free credit. Check out what FinTech Futures had to say here.
India
We have invested in Gurgaon-based Sukoon Health in their $15 million funding round. Sukoon is India’s first speciality hospital that offers both inpatient and outpatient treatments for psychiatry, mental health and addiction. Read VC Circle’s report here.
Lightrock backs BeatO as part of its $33 million Series B. BeatO offers a digital care platform for controlling and reversing diabetes, while also serving as a marketplace for doctors, educators, diagnostics, nutritionists, medicines refills and insurance products. See the Economic Times’ report on this round here.
We have invested in Even Healthcare as part of its $15 million funding. The Bangalore-headquartered subscription-based personalised healthcare startup supports customers to adopt healthier lifestyles through their personalised service stagged by a specialist team of medical professionals. Read Money Controls coverage of the round here.
Portfolio progress and accomplishments
Europe
Dataiku, the artificial intelligence specialist, completed its $200 million Series F, with the round led by Wellington Management, at a $3.7 billion valuation.
Lilium raised $119 million from investors to further fuel operations and press forward with the company’s development of the Lilium Jet.
CMR Surgical announced that it had reached an important milestone after more than 100 of its Versius robotic surgery systems had been installed globally.
Latin America
Creditas and ZAP+ have partnered to launch a platform with integrated real estate solutions to make customer journeys more agile and personalised.
Betterfly, the Chilean insure-tech and flexible benefits startup, has acquired SeuVale to expand and enhance its customer offering.
India
DeHaat raised $60 million in a new funding round to deepen the penetration of its agricultural-focused customer offering and looks to reach break-even profitability.
WayCool acquired an 80% stake in AllFresh in a deal that values the latter at around $5 million. WayCool expects the acquisition to boost its sourcing capabilities.
MediBuddy completed its merger with DocsApp, a doctor consultation platform.
Aye Finance successfully raised $10 million from responsAbility Investments and $10.5 million from Swiss impact investor BlueOrchard.
Africa
Max, the leading mobility startup, announced its entry into the Ghanaian market and its plans to raise $100 million to deploy in Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt.
M-Kopa, the solar and financial technology firm, received a $65 million loan from the International Finance Corporation to fund its business in Kenya and Uganda.
Copia, the e-commerce platform, has announced a partnership with payments firm Cellulant to simplify payments for its diaspora and urban customers.
Impact
The Global Private Capital Association has recognised Lightrock’s investment in frete.com as one of its twelve examples of high-quality conscious and impactful investing taking place across Asia, Latin America, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Across 2022, Lightrock’s companies have had a positive impact on the planet and the communities in which we invest. Some highlights that we are particularly proud of include:
34 million tonnes of CO2 emissions were avoided;
30 million m3 of potable water was provided;
$2 billion worth of loans were distributed to SMEs;
1 million homes were electrified with green energy;
368 MW of renewable energy capacity was installed;
9 million patient outcomes improved, including 300,000 people who received sight-saving care.
Lightrock in the news and at events
Events
Lightrock Partner, Umur Hursever, took to the stage with Sunfire’s CEO, Nils Aldag, to discuss renewable hydrogen’s role in a net-zero future at the annual NOAH Conference in Zurich.
Ash Puri, Partner at Lightrock, kicked off Founders’ Day at the SLUSH startup conference in Helsinki by leading a Q&A with wefox’s CEO Julian Teicke.
In The News
Lightrock CEO Pal Erik Sjatil discussed the growing prevalence of impact investing in the European private equity and venture capital market with Funds Editor, Harriet Matthews, on the Unquote Private Equity Podcast.
City AM’s investment reporter, Charlie Conchie, sat down with Lightrock Partner Kevin Bone to discuss investor appetite for impact-focused strategies and investing in companies innovating towards a net zero economy.
Lightrock Growth Investor, Estella Langheim, shared her views on climate investing with Leah Hodgson of PitchBook News at the SLUSH conference.
Business Insider’s Tasmin Lockwood spoke with Lightrock Growth Investor, Martin Karschkes, to get his views on the carbon accounting market.
[1] Including capital deployed in local currencies, exchange rates calculated as of 30.09.2022.
[2] Including euro denominated funds, exchange rate calculated as of 30.09.2022.
Disclaimer:
This newsletter contains selected information about Lightrock LLP and its affiliates (“Lightrock”) and about the assets that Lightrock advises on, and has been prepared and furnished to you solely for informational purposes and reference only. It does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities and may not be used or relied upon in evaluating the merits of any investment. The contents hereof should not be construed as investment, legal, tax or other advice and you should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax and other related matters. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this newsletter. The information contained herein is confidential and may not be used, reproduced or distributed to others, in whole or in part, for any other purpose without the prior written consent of Lightrock. Information provided is current as of the date of this newsletter (or as otherwise specified). Please note that throughout this document we provide various examples or subsets of existing and past investments advised on by Lightrock and in an aggregate may represent only a small percentage of the investments advised on by Lightrock. It should not be assumed that any other investments not shown would perform similarly to those shown. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Differences between past performance and actual results may be material and adverse. Future investments may be made under materially different economic conditions, including interest rates, market trends and general business conditions, in different portfolio companies and using different investment strategies and these differences may have a significant effect on the results portrayed, portfolio companies held or decisions made. Each of these material market or economic conditions may or may not be repeated. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The value of investments may fall as well as rise and an investor may not receive all they have invested.