<article>Impact investment firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/aavishkaar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aavishkaar</a> has made its second bet in Sri Lanka by investing in logistics solutions provider Grasshoppers Pvt Ltd.
Last year, Aavishkaar Frontier Fund had invested in Sri Lankan firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/ma's-tropical-foods" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ma’s Tropical Foods</a>.</article>

Impact investment firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/aavishkaar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aavishkaar</a> has made its second bet in Sri Lanka by investing in logistics solutions provider Grasshoppers Pvt Ltd.
Last year, Aavishkaar Frontier Fund had invested in Sri Lankan firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/ma's-tropical-foods" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ma’s Tropical Foods</a>.
The investment in Grasshoppers is the fifth investment by <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/aavishkaar-frontier-fund" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aavishkaar&#8217;s Frontier Fund</a>, which is a regional fund through which Aavishkaar invests in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Grasshoppers plans to use this latest funding to set up an island-wide distribution network that would provide the local communities participating in the business model with income opportunities, Aavishaar said in a statement.
“We have seen disruptive innovations in the logistics sector by tech-enabled players in other markets and are very bullish on the success of Grasshoppers in Sri Lanka,” said Sanchayan Chakraborty, partner at Aavishkaar.
Launched last year, Grasshoppers was founded by Dulith Herath, the founder of ecommerce firm Kapruka.com, and Harsha Liyanage, the founder of Sarvodaya Fusion, a not-for-profit organisation promoting IT education across Sri Lanka.
Grasshoppers has developed a proprietary technology stack that facilitates interactions within its logistics supply chain and provides features like traceability of goods through its network to its clients.
“I see e-commerce as a goldmine and Grasshoppers as the mining tool that we give to all entrepreneurs. We hope this tool enables more people to join the e-commerce revolution as we have taken away a major barrier for startups, that of timely delivery of the product,” said Herath, who is also the CEO of Grasshoppers.
Aavishkaar is a VC firm focused on early-stage venture capital investments in enterprises working with low-income population in rural and underserved markets. Since its inception in 2002, it has made more than 50 investments across sectors. The VC firm has raised five funds and manages around $200 million in capital.
Aavishkaar Frontier Fund was launched in 2013 and had earlier backed US- and Indonesia-based seafood firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/north-atlantic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">North Atlantic Inc.</a> and Bangladesh-based payment solutions provider <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/cloudwell" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CloudWell Ltd</a>.
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<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/india-dealbook-aavishkaar-invests-2m-in-mas-foods-tata-power-to-sell-50-stake-in-otp-geothermal-for-30m-36831/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India Dealbook: Aavishkaar invests $2m in MA’s Foods, Tata Power to sell 50% in OTP Geothermal for $30m </a>
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Aavishkaar makes second investment in Sri Lanka, backs Grasshoppers

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Aavishkaar makes second investment in Sri Lanka, backs Grasshoppers

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