Asia | November 5, 2018

Aavishkaar wants to up the ante on South Asian impact

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, November 5 – Aavishkaar wants to increase investment activity in Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar with its eighth fund. The India-based impact investor has a fundraising target of $300 million, DealStreetAsia reports.

“We are avoiding India and China [with the fund], and looking more at smaller markets which have un-utilized potential,” Aavishkaar’s Vineet Rai said. Indonesia, which Rai described as “the next hub of impact investing,” will be a key focus.   

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Aavishkaar already has multiple investments in Indonesia, including online handicraft marketplace Qlapa and seafood startup P.T. Bali Seafood. Aavishkaar made the investments via its $75 million Frontier Fund, which launched in 2015 to focus on high-impact businesses in South Asia. P.T. Bali Seafood was Aavishkaar’s first investment outside of India.

The investor has since launched an Africa-focused fund, which is looking to raise $150 million. It is also actively fundraising for its largest India-focused fund, the Aavishkaar Bharat fund. Aavishkaar reached a $95 million first close towards a $200 million goal for its Bharat fund last year.