Caspian Equity Introduces LEAF Fund to Invest in Food & Agri Startups
Caspian Equity, a venture capital fund based in Hyderabad that invests in social impact startups, has launched a new equity fund LEAF (Leap for Agriculture Fund) with a focus on early-stage Food & Agribusiness startups.
LEAF aims to achieve positive social and environmental impact through its investments while also aiming for an attractive financial return by emphasizing close collaboration with portfolio companies to provide necessary support.
"Caspian LEAF will focus on high impact, close to farmer solutions that benefit small & marginal farmers. We are looking into areas such as input efficiency, drudgery reduction, labor-saving farm machinery, close-to-farm processing, and traceability solutions. We hope to be more than just investors, and to assist in the development of strong and sustainable businesses that will become market leaders in the industries in which they operate," said Caspian Equity's Investment Director and Caspian LEAF Fund Manager, Emmanuel Murray.
The Rs 52 crore fund will invest in pre-series A startups with ticket sizes ranging from Rs 1-5 crore. IndusInd Bank, Sivakumar Surampudi, Kishore Moorjani, Swaminathan Aiyar, and Shyamprasad Bhat have already committed to investing in the fund, which is expected to invest in 12 startups.
"Caspian Equity has been one of the earliest entrants in the impact investing space, with an impressive track record of making investments in some of India's best-known impact organisations," says Srinivas Bonam, Head Inclusive Banking Group, IndusInd Bank. "It is encouraging to see such an experienced and talented team enter the early-stage agricultural startup segment and nurture young companies from the ground up."
The Fund aims to combine access to equity during the critical years of transaction and scaling up of start-up operations with close operational support and governance structure oversight. The Fund intends to make a significant contribution to agricultural value chain improvement, focusing on the upstream segment and addressing pain points across the agri value chain.
Caspian LEAF fund will prioritize close collaboration with startups in order to provide support while also aiming for an attractive financial return. This fund will not only invest in companies in the agriculture sector, but will also provide governance & technical guidance.
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