LeapFrog Investments, an impact-focused alternative investment firm, has appointed Nakul Zaveri as Partner to co-lead its newly established climate investment strategy.
The new strategy will support companies and technologies that enable both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change by lower-income people, the firm said in a statement.
LeapFrog, which mainly invests in the emerging economies of Asia and Africa, said its climate strategy marks a natural extension of its 15-year journey as an impact investing firm.
The firm said that, through companies like Nigerian fintech Interswitch and Indian auto-tech platform CarDekho, it is enabling consumers in Asia and Africa to access products such as rooftop solar electricity and electric vehicles. Through the climate strategy, LeapFrog plans to accelerate these efforts, the firm said.
The climate strategy will focus on companies providing green products and services that are already cost competitive in many emerging markets, and enjoy enabling regulatory tailwinds. This includes pay-as-you-go rooftop solar, distributed energy systems, electric two-wheelers and smart farming practices.
The firm, led by Founder and CEO Andy Kuper, also said Zaveri has over 20 years of experience in climate investing and financial services. He joins LeapFrog from his most recent role as Managing Partner at Relativity Investment Management, a sustainability-focused growth private equity fund group, investing in mid-market Indian businesses.
Before that, Zaveri was a senior leader for seven years at the Global Environment Fund (GEF), a private equity investor focused on the industrial technology, energy ecosystem, infrastructure, and resource efficiency sectors, where he was responsible for managing investment activity across India and Southeast Asia.
Zaveri will work alongside Phyl Georgiou, Head of Climate Strategy and Operations at LeapFrog.
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