Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a China-backed multilateral development bank, on Friday said it has agreed to invest up to $25 million in Lok Capital IV LLC (the Fund), in its first purely impact-focused investment in India.
AIIB said its investment in Lok Capital IV LLC, the fourth India-focused private equity fund of New Delhi-based impact investor Lok Capital, will be limited to 20% of the fund’s total capital, with an additional option to invest up to $5 million separately.
Lok Capital IV is focused on growth equity investments in more traditional financial services and fintech companies. The fund will also invest in earlier-stage deals in the agritech, healthtech, and climate-tech space. The fund was launched in 2000 by Donald Peck, Rajiv Lall, Venky Natarajan, and Vishal Mehta.
Earlier this year, Lok Capital IV made the first close of its fourth fund at $90 million. The fund said the final close — at $150-200 million — is expected by September this year.
Last year, Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO proposed to invest $20 million in Lok Capital IV LLC, according to a disclosure.
AIIB began its operations in Beijing in January 2016 and has since grown to 106 approved members worldwide. It claims to be capitalised at $100 billion.
Since 2017, AIIB has committed over $9.9 billion through 43 projects in India, covering the water, energy, urban transport, and healthcare sectors across the market.
Earlier this year, AIIB launched a $160-million venture capital (VC) strategy to focus on early-stage companies promoting clean-tech and tech-enabled sustainable infrastructure. The programme — AIIB Venture Capital Investment Program for Green and Technology-Enabled Infrastructure — was expected have an initial $130 million in capital and a $30-million co-investment sleeve, according to the announcement.