ImpactAlpha, September 22 – Africa and Asia’s off-grid solar sector has been on an upmarket march in recent years, shifting away from individual households to small commercial or community solar users. But a new $90 million funding round for Greenlight Planet signals that investors are still committed to emerging markets’ first-time and low-income solar energy consumers.

BIMA raises $30 million to offer low-cost microinsurance

ImpactAlpha, September 9 – Stockholm-based BIMA provides mobile health, life and accident microinsurance to first-time customers. It has issued more than 35 million policies in Asia and Africa. COVID has spurred a surge in demand for its telehealth consultations and health policies. China-based fintech investor CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund led the funding round. Existing investors

LeapFrog backs $54 million round for affordable insurer PasarPolis

ImpactAlpha, September 3 – Indonesian insurance tech company PasarPolis partners with large insurance firms to develop health, vehicle and life insurance products for lower-income customers. The five-year-old company expanded into Vietnam and Thailand last year. LeapFrog invested in the company’s $54 million Series B round. The impact investor was joined by ride-hailing company Gojek’s venture

China’s Starfield Food & Science Technology snags $10 million to expand plant-based meat offerings

The Chinese government aims to halve the country’s meat consumption by 2030.

Japan’s Hulic Co. issues bond that punishes for missed environmental impact targets

The Japanese real estate developer will pay investors more if it misses green targets for a new $94 million sustainability-linked bond.

Bayer and Temasek launch Unfold to accelerate vertical farming

ImpactAlpha, August 12 – Vertical farming ventures are raising capital on the promise of the technology’s impact on food security. Nascent technology means the approach remains costlier than traditional horizontal greenhouses. Bayer and Temasek’s new venture, Unfold, will develop seed varieties meant for indoor growing conditions using genetic material from agri-health giant Bayer’s repository. Unfold

AgFunder launches impact fund for agrifood tech startups

ImpactAlpha, August 11 – San Francisco-based venture capital firm AgFunder launched its GROW accelerator in Singapore last year to support Asia’s agrifood tech ecosystem. It’s now adding an impact fund to support seed and Series A ventures, including companies from GROW’s first cohort. The fund is targeting $20 to $30 million to make investments of