Singapore-based impact private equity fund ABC Impact has announced the first close of its second impact fund, ABC Impact Fund II.
According to ABC Impact, a division of Temasek Trust Asset Management, the fund’s assets under management now exceeds US$550 million ($739.73 million), with the final close expected in 2024.
Launched in August 2023, ABC Impact Fund II has garnered support from new investors, including an undisclosed Southeast Asian sovereign wealth fund, says ABC Impact in a Jan 17 announcement.
“Bolstered by the track record of its inaugural fund, ABC Impact has also received significant backing from existing partners, including Temasek Trust, Temasek, SeaTown Holdings and Mapletree Investments,” says the PE fund, which was established in 2019 as ABC World Asia.
According to ABC Impact, its core mission is to generate “positive and measurable social or environmental outcomes in Asia” while delivering compelling risk-adjusted returns for investors.
The firm's inaugural US$300 million fund has been invested into 11 portfolio companies and is nearing full deployment. In 2022, the fund achieved a successful exit from Sunseap, a Singapore-based solar company now known as EDP Renewables APAC.
David Heng, chief executive officer of ABC Impact, says the robust interest in Fund II validates the strategy embedded in their inaugural fund.
“With a steadfast commitment to disciplined and evidence-based impact investing, we are particularly encouraged by the enthusiasm of new investors joining our mission,” says Heng, who spent over 14 years in Temasek prior to leading ABC Impact. “As we continue to drive meaningful change through our portfolio of purposeful companies, we look forward to more like-minded partners joining us.”
In Its latest impact report, released in March 2023, the fund said its investments have supplied 20.26 million people with essential services and provided 2.04 million patients access to healthcare services.
See also: Temasek-backed fund ABC World Asia aims to grow impact investing in Asia
Other beneficiaries include digital education content for 7.78 million students and autism therapy services for 31,747 stakeholders.
On the nature front, ABC Impact claims its investments have helped avoid 1.68 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and saved some 42.6 billion litres of water through “avoidance of livestock agriculture”.
