Mahindra group chairman Anand Mahindra has joined the founders’ board of The Rise Fund, the impact investment fund managed by TPG Growth.
As a member of the founders’ board, Mahindra will help grow The Rise Fund’s presence in India and identify new investment opportunities for the $2 billion fund, it said in a statement.
The Rise Fund was co-founded by Bill McGlashan, musician-turned-investor Bono and billionaire Jeff Skoll. TPG’s billionaire founders David Bonderman and Jim Coulter are also on the fund’s board.
“It is an honor to join Bill and this group of esteemed individuals on the Rise Founders Board. Rise is Mahindra’s core purpose and my personal belief,†said Mahindra. “India is the world’s laboratory of social and economic development policies and has a robust potential for entrepreneurship and innovation that adequate capital can unlock. I am thrilled to begin working with The Rise Fund to drive meaningful and measurable positive change across the country,†he said.
“Anand is an accomplished executive with a vision that is closely aligned with ours at The Rise Fund,†said Bill McGlashan, founder and managing partner of TPG Growth and co-founder and chief executive officer of The Rise Fund.
“Rise established India as a priority early on due to the unprecedented opportunities to build businesses that significantly benefit the country. Anand’s support and deep local knowledge will be essential to our growth and impact in the region,†said McGlashan.
The investors in The Rise Fund include Washington State Investment Board and Swedish pension fund Andra AP-fonden. Financial services firms Bank of America Corp, UBS Group AG and Regents of the University of California, the governing board of the university, have also invested in it.
The fund is creating an impact assessment model that uses independent, third-party research to measure and quantify social and environmental impact throughout the investment cycle, from underwriting to exit, according to its website.
In March 2017, Hyderabad-headquartered Dodla Dairy Ltd raised Rs 321 crore ($50 million) from The Rise Fund. This was the fund’s first investment in India.
In September 2017, VCCircle reported that The Rise Fund will invest in Leadership Boulevard Pvt. Ltd which operates a chain of schools under the brand name LEAD School.
