LGT, the international private banking and asset management group owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, has integrated its direct impact investing activities into a newly formed and branded entity, Lightrock, a global private equity partnership that seeks to achieve financial as well as societal and environmental returns. The formation and spin-off follows LGT's announcement last year to give its three business units, which also include LGT Private Banking and LGT Capital Partners, greater autonomy. Lightrock, with a global team of more than 55 investment professionals led by Pal Erik Sjatil as the new CEO, will retain a close relationship with LGT Private Banking, inviting its private clients as well as other investors to co-invest alongside the Princely House of Liechtenstein that has launched this initiative under the leadership of its Chairman H.S.H. Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein.
Building on 14 years' experience in impact investing globally, LGT has been a pioneer in this field and in 2021 has taken a further step to develop this engagement by bringing all of its impact investment activities under the roof of Lightrock, a new company. These activities include LGT Lightstone, the Indian impact investor Aspada which was acquired in 2019 as well as the Impact Ventures UK fund, a pioneering social impact fund in the United Kingdom.
Lightrock is a global private equity platform investing in sustainable businesses built by purpose-driven entrepreneurs committed to innovation for systemic change at scale. The company has one of the largest impact-focused growth portfolios in Europe, Latin America and India. More recently, Lightrock has also started building out a portfolio of investments across Sub-Saharan Africa. It invests in companies that pursue scalable and technology driven business models around the key impact themes "people", "planet" and "productivity/tech for good". Specific investment sectors within these themes include for example education, healthcare, access to finance, mobility, transportation, renewables and circular economy transition. Lightrock investments across these themes and sectors demonstrably contribute to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.
Lightrock's portfolio currently encompasses more than 60 high-growth companies, including investments such as Infarm, one of the world's fastest growing urban farming networks with more than 1200 farms installed, PharmEasy, one of the largest omni-channel healthcare platforms in India, DrConsulta, one of the largest healthcare chains in Latin America, and M-Kopa, a global pioneer for "pay-as-you-go" solar energy services for off-grid customers in rural East Africa. In 2019, CMR Surgical, a developer of surgical robots that will broaden access to keyhole surgery, was the first of Lightrock's portfolio companies to become a unicorn - followed by several others. As an active owner, Lightrock supports its portfolio companies from a board position in their dynamic growth and expansion phase.
Lightrock employs a diverse team of more than 55 private equity professionals - 40% of whom are female - from more than 13 different countries and across four continents with headquarters in London, combining extensive experience in impact investing, a strong track record in leadership, entrepreneurship and portfolio management, with extensive networks regionally and globally, and speaking more than 20 languages. Lightrock is organized as a partnership led by the Global Managing Partner and CEO Pal Erik Sjatil, the former Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company Europe with deep expertise in digitalization and technological transformation. Lightrock's leadership is complemented by 11 Partners who have deep expertise and relationships across the target regions. Lightrock's Board of Directors is chaired by H.S.H. Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, who initiated LGT's impact investing activities in 2007 and has a track record of successfully investing in private equity for more than 25 years.
H.S.H. Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, Chairman LGT and Lightrock: "We aim to establish Lightrock as a leading global impact investor and to offer our clients a fairly unique exposure to high growth businesses with strong positive societal returns. Lightrock invests in innovative, purposeful and successful companies that help to address the world's pressing problems while offering attractive financial perspectives. I'm convinced that with Pal Erik Sjatil as Lightrock's CEO and his very strong team, we are on track to build a very valuable and attractive investment business that has a compelling strategy in the context of the world's broader challenges and opportunities."