Caspian Equity launches LEAF fund to invest in food and agri startups

The fund expects to invest in 12 startups and has already secured commitments from leading investors such as IndusInd Bank

Caspian Equity, a Hyderabad-based venture capital fund 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 intends to achieve positive social and environmental impact through its investments besides aiming to attain attractive financial returns by laying emphasis on closely working with the portfolio companies to provide the required support.
 
“Caspian LEAF will focus on high-impact, close-to-farmer solutions that benefit small and marginal farmers. Some of the spaces we are looking at are efficiency in input use, reduction in drudgery, labour-saving farm machinery, close-to-farm processing and traceability solutions. We hope to be more than just investors, and help build robust and sustainable businesses that become market leaders in the spaces they operate in,” said Emmanuel Murray, Investment Director at Caspian Equity and Fund Manager of Caspian LEAF Fund.
 
The fund, which has a size of Rs 52 crore, will invest in pre-series A startups with ticket sizes ranging from Rs 1-5 crore. The fund expects to invest in 12 startups and has already secured commitments from leading investors such as IndusInd Bank.  
  
The fund aims to combine access to equity in the critical years of transaction and scaling up of start-up operations with close operational support and oversight on governance structures. The Fund intends to contribute significantly to improving the value chain of Agriculture majorly in the upstream segment which will address pain points across different elements of the agri value chain.

The fund expects to invest in 12