October 6, 2026
DealStreetAsia: Infrastructure platform model particularly suited to Asia
Harsh Agrawal speaks with DealStreetAsia about scaling infrastructure businesses and the changing needs shaping investment across the region.
Asia’s growing infrastructure needs and fragmented markets create opportunities to build larger businesses that deliver essential services. In an interview with DealStreetAsia, Senior Partner Harsh Agrawal, discusses why the region is particularly suited to the firm’s platform investment approach.
Through consolidation and business development, Harsh discusses how infrastructure platforms can build the scale needed to serve growing markets and attract a broader range of capital. He explains how increasing investor participation and more developed local capital markets are also expanding potential exit routes for these businesses.
The conversation explores the different forces shaping demand across Asia. Urbanization and a growing middle class are driving infrastructure needs in developing markets, while energy transition, digital infrastructure, and environmental standards are prominent themes in developed markets.
Lightstorm, an I Squared portfolio company that connects data centers through fiber-optic networks, illustrates how new infrastructure business models are emerging around changing demand. Harsh also highlights investment needs in power and grids, infrastructure serving industrial customers, and environmental services such as industrial waste treatment.
Strategic partnerships play an important role in this approach, bringing expertise, technology, and relationships to support infrastructure development. Throughout the discussion, Harsh emphasizes commercial viability as a central consideration in investment decisions.
Read the full interview in DealStreetAsia >
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