British International Investment

Lok Capital IV LLC

IndiaSouth AsiaCommunications & IT servicesFinancial servicesManufacturing

Lok IV, managed by Lok Investment Management Limited, is a $150 million to $180 million SME-focused fund which will invest in financial services businesses and technology-enabled business models in agriculture, healthcare and climate. The fund aims to support inclusive and sustainable growth in India by catering to lower-income and underserved communities.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

We have committed a total of $15 million to Lok Capital Fund IV (Lok IV), managed by Lok Investment Management Limited (an initial investment of $5 million in 2022, followed by a top up of $10 million in 2023). Lok IV aims to invest in early and growth-stage companies in financial services (including fintech) and tech-enabled businesses in agriculture, healthcare and climate. The objective of the fund is to promote access, quality, and affordability of services in India, predominantly in Tier 2 and 3 towns, rural areas and states with low per capital income. The fund is also 2X-qualified.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact
  • Promote access, affordability and quality of core products and services across financial inclusion, agriculture, healthcare, and climate for low-income beneficiaries (SDG 10).
  • Promote economic opportunities for employees (SDG 8).

How?

Primary Secondary

Investing capital in specific sectors and subsectors, mainly:

  • Financial inclusion: affordable housing, MSME financing.
  • Healthtech: diagnostic companies, disease specific consultation companies, clinical intervention treatment companies.
  • Agritech: farmer financing companies, farm to consumer full-stack companies.
  • Climate tech: electric vehicle mobility, low greenhouse gas products, environment tech.

Investing capital in companies that will help them generate employment through workforce hiring.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
End-beneficiaries in financial inclusion, agriculture, healthcare

India

Low-income beneficiaries residing in urban and rural areas. The fund also focuses on reaching women and other disadvantaged beneficiaries.
Full-time employees employed by Lok’s investees

India

The fund focuses on promoting female employment within its investee companies.

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

Approximately 2 million consumers who can access affordable products and services in Lok’s sector areas.
  • Depth: Improvement in standard of living and quality of life for the target stakeholders. Lok facilitates employee welfare policies such as maternity leave and whistle-blower policies at the time of investment.
  • Duration: This is contingent on the company performance and is likely to vary across investees.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial additionality: Our investment will help Lok reach its first close target size. As a repeat partner, our participation is signalling to other investors and getting them comfortable.
  • Value additionality: Strengthening business integrity and impact measurement practices to minimise execution, efficiency and evidence risks.

Risk

Evidence Risk
  • Related to data pertaining to depth of impact. This risk will be mitigated through instituting robust measures that allow for routine measurement of impact.
Execution Risk
  • Related to venturing into relatively newer sectors. This risk can be mitigated by the fund hiring seasoned personnel to guide investment strategies.

Impact score

Impact score (at point of investment)

The Impact Score is a tool to help us manage our performance against our strategic impact objectives. It is designed to incentivise investments that support our productive, sustainable, and inclusive objectives. You can find out more here.

The Impact Score is published for investments made from 2022 onwards. The Impact Scores are calculated at the point of investment. We publish the Impact Scores of new investments annually, once the information has been externally assured by an independent third party.

7

Understanding our impact information (PDF)

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

We agreed on an ESAP focused on strengthening the integration of environmental and social risk management across the investment cycle. This includes a revised ESDD approach, climate risk management, and portfolio engagement that matches the level of risk and aligns with international standards.

Environmental and social risk

Medium-Low

Understanding our approach to environmental and social risk (PDF)

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk

  • Key facts
    First published

    When the investment was first published on the website database.
    :
    January 2024
    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
    :
    D5509
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
    :
    South Asia
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Communications & IT services, Financial services, Manufacturing

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.
    Investment type :
    Fund
    Start date :
    July 2023
    Amount :
    $10m
    Currency of investment :
    USD
    Fund Manager:
    Lok Investment Manager Ltd
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
    :
    Mauritius
    2X Gender Finance

    Indicates whether the investment is ‘2X qualified’ using the 2X Challenge criteria. You can find out more here. It only applies to investments made from 2018 onwards, when the 2X Challenge was first launched.
    :
    Fully qualified

    Download as PDF

    Click here to read our data guidance

Related investments made by BII into this fund:

Investment name Commitment Region Sector Start date Status
Investment 01 $5m South Asia Communications & IT services, Financial services, Manufacturing December 2022 Active
Investment 02 $5m South AsiaSouth Asia Communications & IT services, Financial services, Manufacturing December 2022 Active
Investment 03 $10m South AsiaSouth AsiaSouth Asia Communications & IT services, Financial services, Manufacturing July 2023 Active

Investments made by this fund into companies:

For further information about these companies, visit https://www.lokcapital.com/

Investment name Country Region Sector Start date Status
Coastal Aquaculture Research Institute Private Limited India South Asia Communications & IT services January 2023 Active
GrowXCD Finance Private Limited India South Asia Financial services November 2023 Active
Navashya Consumer Products Private Limited (Superbottoms) India South Asia Manufacturing September 2023 Active
Seeds Fincap Private Limited (“Seeds”) India South Asia Financial services September 2023 Active
WHIZDM Money View India South Asia Financial services June 2023 Active

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