LeapFrog Investments nears $400 mln Fund II target

LeapFrog Investments has raised more than 75 percent of its Fund II target, with plans for a second closing later this month and a final close later this summer.

A spokesman for LeapFrog Investments by Buyouts declined to comment. 

LeapFrog Investments drew support from Prudential’s social investments program in  a commitment announced in September.

“LeapFrog’s deep sensitivity to social impact investment in businesses that focus on underserved consumers in an ethically responsible manner resonates with the strategy of Prudential’s social investment program,” Lata Reddy, vice president, corporate social responsibility at Prudential and president of the Prudential Foundation, said in a prepared statement. 

LeapFrog Investments is led by founder and CEO Andrew Kuper, who describes his firm as “the largest dedicated investor worldwide in insurance and related financial services to emerging consumers,” according to his profile on LinkedIn. LeapFrog’s investors include JPMorgan, Swiss Re, MetLife, European Investment Bank and TIAA-CREF, according to the firm’s website.

In one of its most recent deals, LeapFrog Investments paid an undisclosed sum for a stake in Petra Trust, the largest pension trustee in Ghana. The firm lists investment hubs in Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as Singapore.

LeapFrog Investments raised $137 million in its inaugural pool, LeapFrog Financial Inclusion Fund, in 2010, according to the Thomson One private equity database.

(This story has been updated to include a no comment from a LeapFrog Investments spokesman.)