Another major player in the traditional finance services sector has invested into a financial technology firm.
Prudential Insurance, a powerhouse in the insurance sector, has invested $350 million into fintech company LeapFrog. Prudential is one of the view companies in the world with assets totaling over $1 trillion, giving LeapFrog a serious backing, both financially and institutionally.
Prudential announced that it invested $350 million into the fintech company last week, brining LeapFrog’s total capital raisings to $1.09 billion.
The fintech company, which has operated for close to seven years now, provides private equity and alternative investment strategy services. Like many other fintech companies, it also specializes in providing online and mobile financial services in both Asia and Africa.
Prudential said the investment into LeapFrog would increase the group’s exposure to the emerging markets and solidify long term gains into the future.
LeapFrog was founded in 2008 during the peak of the global financial crisis, but received support from many major players in finance, including George Soros and JP Morgan Chase. The company has managed to post healthy profit even though 36 million of its 51.8 million clients live on less than $10 per day.
Since receiving early support from the likes of JP Morgan, LeapFrog has gained the backing of a multitude of powerhouse players who were drawn to LeapFrog’s “profit with purpose” philosophy.