October 2022 Update
newsletter
Published:
October 31, 2022
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod
Read More
.png)
Dear friends of Lightrock,
Welcome to the October edition of the Lightrock newsletter.
Since our last update, Lightrock’s local offices and global functions have been firing on all cylinders without exception; making this a particularly exciting and packed edition of the newsletter.
To start with, we are particularly pleased to share that we have recently closed our inaugural Lightrock Climate Impact Fund, with €860 million of investor commitments, to scale growth-stage companies innovating towards a net-zero future.
In addition, we have completed several new investments, welcomed new colleagues, and we have participated in many conferences, events, industry initiatives, and been considered for awards.
These achievements, against a complex backdrop of economic and geopolitical turmoil, were only possible thanks to our world class entrepreneurs, the support of our partners, the backing of our existing and new investors, and the hard work of our investment and fundraising teams, as well as our committed advisors. Celebrating such positive developments is a privilege, but more importantly a strong motivator to further accelerate our efforts to scale positive change, together with all of you.
Please find enclosed further details on our new fund, the companies that have recently joined the Lightrock family, and other interesting updates from our colleagues.
With warm regards,
The Lightrock Global Team
We are delighted to have closed our latest fund – The Lightrock Climate Impact Fund, to accelerate the efforts of Europe and North America’s most promising entrepreneurs pursuing a net-zero future.
The fund was oversubscribed with demand exceeding the €600 million target. This can be attributed to strong support from Lightrock’s anchor investor LGT and its Private Banking clients, Lightrock co-investments as well as a diverse range of new high-quality global investors.
The fund will make investments with a typical initial ticket size of €10-40 million in European and North American growth-stage companies that are innovating towards a net-zero economy and building an operating system for climate action.
Read what Bloomberg and New Private Markets had to say about our latest fund after their reporters spoke with our CEO, Pal Erik and Investment Team Partner, Kevin Bone, respectively.
We are delighted to share with you the latest companies and founders to join the Lightrock family.
- We have invested in Estonian startup, Katana Manufacturing, as part of a $35 million Series B. Katana’s ERP software helps small and medium manufacturers stay lean and efficient, while delivering fantastic UX and easy integrations to ecommerce platforms.
- We have invested in Brazilian startup, Cortex Intelligence, in its $50 million Series C. Cortex is a SaaS data analytics platform that leverages AI and big data to help companies make smart, efficient and data-driven decisions that accelerate growth.
- We have invested in a new data, analytics and technology services company called Mettus. The firm was created by combining four leading South African brands across the fast-growing and in-demand data, analytics and technology markets.
- The innovative payment super network, Satispay, has become Italy’s second unicorn, exceeding a €1 billion valuation, following its €320 million Series D.
- Mainspring Energy extended its Series E round, with total value reaching $290 million, to scale manufacturing of its innovative linear technology-leveraging generators.
- Full-stack agritech startup DeHaat successfully raised $46 million in its Series E round, reaching a valuation of $695 million.
- Logistics technology platform, Shiprocket, has entered the unicorn club, with its valuation hitting $1.3 billion, after raising $32 million to invest in its intelligent shipping software solution.
- Corporate debt solution platform Yubi expands into the Middle East and North Africa region, through its subsidiary Spocto.
- Pharmeasy, the India-based online pharmacy and medical store, partners with cash-free payments to facilitate super-efficient settlements for its retail partners.
- Chalo, a transport solutions specialist, partners with Switch Mobility to deploy more than 5,000 electric buses across India.
- Provided of telemedicine services Dr Consulta raised R$170 million in its Series D round, to expand the number of clinics, increase health plan offering and improve technology.
- Nigerian fintech TeamApt raised more than $50 million to expand its credit-focused offerings.
- After becoming one of the inaugural signatories to the Operating Principles for Impact Management in 2019, we recently released our 2022 Disclosure Statement, which re-affirms our commitment to the highest standards of impact management and measurement. By aligning our impact practice with the nine principles, we aim to foster greater discipline and transparency in impact investing. This forms part of our efforts to continuously seek to enhance our framework and the overall impact standards across the industry. Our alignment with the principles has been independently verified by BlueMark.
- Leading carbon emission reduction project developer, South Pole, published its Sustainability Report for 2021, with details on the extent of its impact on the improving ESG performance of many of the world’s largest companies.
- The asset financing fintech, M-KOPA, released its 2021 Impact Report, which includes details on the company’s milestones on financial inclusion, life improvement and carbon emissions.
Scaler hosted a panel discussion with Lightrock, where our founder and chairman Prince Max von Liechtenstein, CEO Pal Erik Sjatil, and Head of India Kartik Srivatsa discussed impact investing activity in India.
Lightrock Growth Investor, Richard Grabbe, got together with wefox’s Chief of Staff, Paul Jehle, at one of Europe’s leading founders festival, Bitz & Pretzels, to talk about progress and the future for insure-tech.
Our team participated in the GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network) conference in The Hague, to connect with partners and industry peers from the wider impact investing community.
Our Kenyan-based fintech portfolio company 4G Capital won the Global SME Finance Awards as the Responsible Digital Innovator of the Year.
Lightrock was shortlisted for two awards, as Impact Investor of the Year at Real Deals ESG Awards, and as Growth & Buyout Fund of the Year at GP Bullhound Investor Allstars Awards.
