The Rise Fund, the impact investment fund managed by TPG Growth that has already backed two Indian companies, has raised a record $2 billion (Rs 13,071 crore).
The fund’s latest investment was in Mumbai-based school management services provider, Leadership Boulevard Pvt. Ltd.
TPG Growth managing partner Bill McGlashan told Bloomberg that The Rise Fund, which was launched last December, had an initial target of $1.5 billion, but surpassed it to hit the hard cap of $2 billion. Employees of TPG Growth, the growth equity arm of private equity firm TPG Capital Inc., plan to commit additional money to the fund before the final close, the report added.
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 Rise Fund was co-founded by McGlashan, musician-turned-investor Bono and billionaire Jeff Skoll. TPG’s billionaire founders David Bonderman and Jim Coulter are also on the board.
The fund is creating a rigorous 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.
Its debut investment in India was in Hyderabad-headquartered Dodla Dairy Ltd, wherein it had pumped in Rs 321 crore, to mark the largest private equity deal in the dairy sector.
Separately, TPG Growth, which has assets under management of over $8.3 billion, has also been investing in India. Its recent bets include budget sports shoe brand Campus, mother-and child-care hospitals brand Motherhood, and oncology services provider Cancer Treatment Services International.
Impact investment
According to a report by consulting firm McKinsey, impact funds had invested over $1 billion (Rs 6,400 crore) in India for the second consecutive year in 2016, which saw a jump in the average deal size, even as the volumes remained flat.
The total value of impact investments between 2010 and 2016 was at $5.2 billion, with the market attracting over 50 active impact funds, the report said. Impact investments in the country have the potential to grow 20-25% every year to touch $6-8 billion by 2025, it added.
Notable impact investment funds in India include Omidyar Network, Unitus Seed Fund, Acumen, Aavishkaar Venture Management and Accion International.
*This article has been modified to correct certain inaccuracies.