The past decade has supported the venture capital market generally, but there has been a disproportionate impact on female-founded companies seeking funding…

  Jean Rogers, the new global head of ESG at Blackstone, will work to oversee strategy and reporting for over 250 portfolio companies. Here, she explains why second order data is the secret sauce…

According to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s (AVCA) recently released 2021 Annual African Private Capital Activity Report, the total value of private capital deals reported in Africa reached a record high of $7.4 billion during the year, representing a 118% increase compared to $3.4 billion registered in 2020, and surpassing the annual average deal value of $4 billion between 2016 and 2020 (+85%). AVCA says this signifies the gradual maturation of private investment in Africa, which rose at 13% (CAGR 2016-2021). Further, the findings are a testament to the success and visionary work of firms whose pioneering

Venture capital is pouring into sustainable farming and biotech, as supply chains and food sovereignty enter political debate. The potential for impact-linked outcomes here is growing too… Much like the surge of venture capital (VC) in renewable energy and cleantech in the mid-2000s, food and agriculture investment is going through a transformation, powered by changing consumer habits, climate change and new technology.  Traditionally, VC investment into food and agriculture flows downstream – to retail products, restaurant delivery, and e-grocery. But last year, upstream took the majority of investment with 52 per cent going to start-ups in agtech, food science and

A lack of regulatory alignment on ESG disclosure has created a noisy backdrop of third-party standards and metrics so private equity funds are attempting to lead the way instead… For much of the past 10 years, private equity firms have been swimming in an alphabet soup of ESG standards.  Recent estimates put the figure at around 200 standards globally, for reporting and assessing sustainability risks across fund portfolios. Many have little coordination between regulators, investors or across different jurisdictions.  A lack of standardisation can make it difficult to outwardly assess the impact of ESG progress on financial results and has

With renewable energy asset valuations and new oil and gas investment in question, energy investment is being redefined by electrified transport, hydrogen and energy storage…

By Colin Leopold – The billion-dollar impact fund is now a reality for mainstream private equity houses. Can they stay true to the roots of impact investing and meet the expectations of LPs?

Ciesco, a specialist M&A advisory firm operating in the technology, digital, media and marketing sectors, has reported positive M&A activity in Q1 2022 despite geopolitical turmoil. Cisco’s latest report reveals 500 transactions announced in Q1 2022 in the sector – a 17 per cent increase in year-to-date activity from Q1 2021, with deal activity spiking 48 per cent in January.  Ciesco’s research found Digital Agency, MarTech and Digital Media were the sectors showing the highest deal volume with 86, 67 and 64 deals respectively. Digital Agency was found to be one of the most successful sectors for M&A deals, returning