Lightrock

🇧🇧 Lightrock and South Pole teamed up last week to support the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Global Forum last week, an important gathering for stakeholders in the energy access ecosystem. 🗣️ Our Managing Partner & CEO Pal Erik Sjatil contributed to the agenda, discussing solutions to energy transition challenges, while Partner Ademidun (Demi) Edosomwan served on a panel of judges for a Shark Tank competition aimed at energy access founders. 🤝 Alongside our portfolio company South Pole, we also thoroughly enjoyed hosting new friends and colleagues at a special networking reception on the conference’s first day. 🙏 We want to extend our thanks to the entire SEforALL production team and leadership for their partnership across this event and their critical work aimed at achieving UN SDG7. 👇 Learn more about the forum and its impacts by checking out the link in the comments. 

🩷 Buser Brasil reaches notable milestones and accelerates its brand presence with backing from 4equity - Media Ventures.   🛣️ Buser joined the Lightrock portfolio in 2021 and is now the largest intercity mobility company in Brazil, making travel more affordable and sustainable for its 12 million active passengers and across more than 250 cities. 📺 Following a strong financial performance in 2024, the company has secured R$30m from 4equity through a “media for equity” investment model, boosting its exposure across TV, influencers, and other media channels. Alongside this growth, Buser is also exploring strategic opportunities to further expand its market presence. Lightrock is pleased to have 4equity onboard supporting Buser’s next phase of growth and congratulates the entire team on the results!   🔗 More details in Bloomberg Línea’s article, linked in the comments.   🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷 🩷 Buser Brasil alcançou marcos importantes e acelera a exposição da marca com apoio da 4equity - Media Ventures   🛣️ A Buser, que entrou para o portfólio da Lightrock em 2021, é hoje a maior empresa de mobilidade intermunicipal do Brasil, tornando as viagens mais acessíveis e sustentáveis para seus 12 milhões de passageiros ativos em mais de 250 cidades. 📺 Após um forte desempenho financeiro em 2024, a empresa garantiu um investimento de R$ 30 milhões da 4equity, por meio do modelo "media for equity", ampliando sua exposição em TV, influenciadores e outros canais de mídia. A Lightrock está entusiasmada com a parceria com a 4equity, que apoiará a próxima fase de crescimento da Buser, e parabeniza toda a equipe pelos resultados!   🔗 Mais detalhes no artigo da Bloomberg Línea, linkado nos comentários.

🇧🇧 Reminder: next week, Lightrock will be in Barbados for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)’s Global Forum. 🗣️ Lightrock’s Managing Partner and CEO Pal Erik Sjatil will be a panellist for the discussion on ‘Powering Industrialisation – Unlocking Finance for Energy Transition Technology Value Chains’. Partner and Head of Energy Access Ademidun (Demi) Edosomwan will be a judge for SEforALL’s Shark Tank Competition, while Hanaan Marwah and Alex Njoroge Muchoki will be attending the forum. ⚡Lightrock is sponsoring the Bridgetown-based event, in partnership with our portfolio company South Pole, to support the sustainable energy movement. South Pole’s CEO Dr. Daniel Klier will discuss unlocking climate finance and ensuring market integrity in the session 'Transforming Carbon Markets with Global Collaboration and Nigeria’s CMAP Rollout.' 📨 If you’d like to learn more about Lightrock, reach out to our team via LinkedIn DM. For more info on the forum, check out the link in the comments.

📣 In case you missed it, Lightrock led Azos’s Series B funding round!   🖱️ Azos is an insurtech that uses proprietary AI tools to offer life insurance solutions without medical exams or reports. In the words of Managing Partner & Head of LatAm Marcos Wilson Pereira, CFA: “Azos stood out to us for its ability to eliminate the bureaucracy associated with purchasing life insurance, delivering excellent products to customers while simplifying the process for brokers and investment firms.”   🤝 We’re pleased to invest in Azos alongside existing investors KASZEK, Prosus Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, and MAYA CAPITAL, and others. Congratulations to Rafael Cló, Renato Farias, and Bernardo Correa Ribeiro, and the rest of the Azos team – we are excited to be a part of the company’s journey.   📰 For more information, check out Azos’s website - linked in the comments.   Lightrock team: Marcos Wilson Pereira, CFA, Ahmad El Jurdi, Guilherme Cardoso, Rafael Alves

🎉We’re extremely pleased to welcome Samir Abhyankar to Lightrock as Partner & Head of India!    🇮🇳 With over 25 years of experience in global investing, Samir’s focus will be on scaling up Lightrock’s operations in India into a strategic hub for both regional capital deployment and value creation.    💼 Samir joins us from British International Investment, where he led the Financial Services Group and headed Direct Private Equity. He has held senior positions at TPG, Satya Capital, and Citi Venture Capital International, after starting his career at The World Bank.    👇 For more information on Samir’s arrival and Lightrock’s plans in India, check out our press release in the comments. 

🇧🇧 Lightrock is partnering with its portfolio company South Pole to sponsor Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)’s Global Forum in Bridgetown, Barbados from Wednesday 12th to Thursday 13th March!   🎤 Lightrock’s Managing Partner and CEO Pal Erik Sjatil and Partner and Head of Energy Access Ademidun (Demi) Edosomwan will be speaking at the event, with Alex N. in attendance. The forum is bringing together those championing the sustainable energy movement for the sixth year, with the Government of Barbados as co-hosts. 💡 The gathering will focus on catalysing the actions and investment needed for countries to achieve their energy access, climate, and development goals. 🔗 For more information on the event, check out the link in the comments.

📣 We’re pleased to share that Lightrock has led Augury’s latest funding round! 🏭 Augury provides purpose-built AI solutions for factory equipment maintenance. Through its proprietary sensors and AI software platform, Augury’s technology enables customers to receive precise insights into their machines and operations. The digitalised process boasts a 99.9% failure detection accuracy and a 5-20x ROI when deployed at scale, significantly reducing factory downtime and inefficient energy consumption whilst supporting sustainable production. Augury’s existing clients include PepsiCo, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, and The Hershey Company. 💚 We’re proud to be investing in Augury alongside existing investors Insight Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Qumra Capital, Schneider Electric Ventures, and Eclipse. Congratulations to Saar Yoskovitz and the wider Augury team for this latest milestone! 📰 For more information, read TechCrunch’s story featuring Partner Ashish (Ash) Puri linked in the comments. Lightrock team: Ashish (Ash) Puri, Martin Karschkes, Nina Cardelús Vilalta, Sophie Lara N.

🎙️ Partner Christopher Steinau has featured on Mergermarket’s ION Influencer’s podcast!   Joining Giovanni Amodeo in a fireside chat, some of the topics that Chris covers include: 💼 his career journey from entrepreneur to investor 💰 the growth of the Lightrock platform  🌳 the evolution of climate investing, and 🛤️ his investment in Distribusion Technologies and hopes for the future Thank you for the team at ION Analytics for the interview! If you’d like to hear Chris and Giovanni, check out the link in the comments.

👂 Where can you hear from the Lightrock team in March? 🇮🇳 Partner Kushal Agrawal will be a panellist at the ALFI - Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry and the LPEA - Luxembourg Private Equity & Venture Capital Association’s Luxembourg Fund Industry Seminar in Mumbai, India, on 4th March. 🇩🇪 Martin Karschkes will also be a panellist at the Süddeutscher Verlag Veranstaltungen GmbH’s SZ Sustainability Forum in Munich, Germany, on 27th March. 📨 If you'd like to learn more about Lightrock, do reach out to our team via LinkedIn DM. 👇 For additional event details, please click on the links in the comments.

🎤 So far this year, Lightrock has been on stage at: ✅ LEAP 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ✅ AI Everything in Dubai, UAE, where Ashish (Ash) Puri also met His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence ✅ SDA Bocconi in Milan, Italy, where Estella Langheim participated in the Sustainability Forum event ✅ the World Economic Forum’s Davos conference in Davos, Switzerland, where Dr. Katharina Sommerrock and Dr. Marc Moser discussed sustainable investments 👀 Thank you to all of the organisers who made these events possible. We're thrilled by this strong start to 2025, and have more speaking slots to be announced shortly...