| Website | leapfroginvest.com |
| @LeapFrogInvest | |
| Category | Other |
| Phone | +61 2 8356 8100 |
| oliviahanrahan@le... | |
| Employees | 28 |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Description | Profit-with-Purpose Investors |
| Shiram Credit | 9/11 |
LeapFrog Investments is a $135 million profit-with-purpose private equity fund. It invests in high-growth companies in Africa and Asia that serve emerging consumers with financial tools, including insurance and savings.
LeapFrog targets financial as well as social return. LeapFrog recently won the Investor of the Year award from Business Insider and the Sustainable Investor of the Year special commendation award from the Financial Times and IFC. Its President and Founder, Dr Andrew Kuper, was names Ernst & Young’s National Entrepreneur of the Year.
At $12m, LeapFrog’s average deal size is approximately eight times the industry average. LeapFrog’s thesis holds that it is necessary to match the size of the problem – 4 billion people in poverty – with the size of the solution: a financial model, team, and community operating at the level and scale necessary to make a dent on mass poverty. LeapFrog’s goal is to provide capital and expertise to businesses that scale, reach vast numbers of low-income people, and can mobilize the trillions of dollars in the capital markets.
Launched with President Bill Clinton in September 2008, the fund invests amounts between $5–$20 million in target companies, with a 4-7 year time horizon. Investors in LeapFrog’s investment fund include global banks such as JP Morgan, the European Investment Bank and Triodos; leading funds such as Soros EDF, Omidyar Network, and Calvert; global reinsurers and pension funds such as SCOR, Haverford, and TIAA-CREF; and leading development financiers including FMO, IFC, KfW, Proparco and Accion Frontier Investments Group.
LeapFrog invests in companies to help them attain scale, profitability, and impact. Investments include:
AllLife: LeapFrog invested $11 million in AllLife, the only South African insurer of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Apollo: LeapFrog invested $14 million in Apollo Investments Ltd, an insurance group operating in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. It offers life and non-life insurance products through APA Insurance and Apollo Life.
Shriram: LeapFrog invested $15 million in Shriram CCL, which distributes low-cost high-quality financial services including insurance, savings, and investment products to low-income Indians.
Express Life: LeapFrog invested $5.5 million in Express Life Insurance Company, a Ghanaian firm providing life insurance products and services.
Mahindra: LeapFrog invested $15m in Mahindra Insurance, which provides life, property and health insurance to millions in rural and semi-urban India.
CrystaLife: LeapFrog invested $7.5m in CrystaLife Assurance, in a strategic partnership with CrystaLife’s majority stakeholder, Asset and Resource Management Co. CrystaLife is one of the largest life insurance companies in Nigeria.
