Sustainable energy expert, Dr. Suzanne Shaw and social development innovator, Saffrey Brown have teamed up to form start-up company, The Leap Co.
Incorporated in 2018, the Kingston, Jamaica based company will develop and invest in scalable ventures built on profitable models that deliver solutions to environmental, social and economic challenges.
Shaw, Leap’s Chief Executive Officer and head of Impact Investment, revealed that the company, through its Impact Investment Fund, will invest in businesses that demonstrate the potential to provide positive social or environmental impact and create real value for the economy, while delivering solid financial returns.
“We will also be working with entrepreneurs to co-develop and scale their businesses to achieve returns commensurate with risk adjusted market rates while at the same time providing strategic advice on how to structure and optimize impact within the business model,” Shaw explained.
She said the company has partnered with JN Fund Managers for the Fund, which will use innovative financial instruments to provide capital investments in start-up, early and growth stage businesses.
The level of investment will range from US$200,000 to US$3 million, depending on the size and stage of the business. The initial four sectors that will be targeted are: renewable energy/energy efficiency, climate smart agriculture, sustainable infrastructure and circular economy (which
Brown, a former general manager of the JN Foundation, whose role is chief executive officer of subsidiary, Leap Forward, a non-profit company of The Leap Co., said that the subsidiary will use incubation, acceleration and ideation to identify, support, test and pilot new solutions to social, environmental and economic challenges.
