Temasek enters $500m tie-up with London’s LeapFrog Investments

Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek announced it has entered into a US$500 million partnership with London-based LeapFrog Investments.

Photo credit: Temasek

The partnership will form a multifund investment vehicle by Temasek to anchor LeapFrog’s future funds. Temasek will also take a minority stake in LeapFrog and provide growth capital to expand the latter’s team and investment capabilities across Asia and Africa.

Founded in 2007, LeapFrog backs businesses across the two regions and has raised over US$2 billion from global institutional investors. The investment firm said its companies now reach 212 million people across 35 countries.

As part of the deal, Temasek will take one non-executive seat on LeapFrog’s board, while the investment process will be managed by LeapFrog’s team of partners.

“There is an urgent and pressing need to address the critical social and environmental challenges that the world is facing. We believe in the potential of impact investing to unlock the capital to meet these challenges,” said Benoit Valentin, head of impact investing at Temasek.

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LeapFrog claims its companies have grown on average at 30% annually from the time of investment. It also provides jobs to over 130,000 people.

The investment firm has scaled digital companies that have then been sold to the likes of Prudential, Allianz X, AXA-XL, Swiss Re, Fidelity’s Eight Roads, and Standard Chartered, said the company.