Beringea

Beringea Research

Overview

Beringea is a transatlantic venture capital firm founded in the 1980s with a mission to empower entrepreneurs to build billion-dollar businesses. Operating across two geographies — London, UK and Farmington Hills, Michigan — Beringea manages approximately $900M+ in total assets across complementary fund structures. The firm describes itself as "patient and intelligent capital," taking a long-term perspective that spans economic cycles. Its defining characteristic is a genuine transatlantic footprint: it actively helps UK and European companies expand into the US and vice versa.

Investment Thesis

Beringea's core thesis is that the best entrepreneurs need more than money — they need experienced partners who understand what it takes to build and scale global businesses. The firm targets companies demonstrating experienced founding teams (serial founders, industry experts, or academic specialists), solid commercial foundations with defensible market positions, significant growth potential in large addressable markets, and a credible path to profitability. Beringea's Scale-Up Academy — a program of virtual and in-person events for portfolio leadership teams covering B2B sales, leadership coaching, AI deployment, and international expansion — reflects this hands-on, operational approach.

Stage Focus

Beringea focuses on growth-stage investments:

• US: Series A, Growth, or later
• UK: Series A or Series B
• Both: Follow-on investments available through to exit

The firm avoids very early pre-seed or seed investments, preferring companies with meaningful commercial traction. US investments require ARR typically exceeding $3M at entry; UK investments target companies turning over approximately £1M or more.

Check Size

Investment parameters differ by geography:

• US: $2–10 million preferred equity per initial investment
• UK: £1–10 million initial investment
• Both: Follow-on reserves available, as demonstrated by leading Sovato Health's Series B after an earlier investment and providing additional funding to AccessPay in 2024 to support global expansion

Lead Tendency

Beringea frequently leads rounds. Recent examples include leading InvestNext's $15M Series B (February 2025), VRAI's £4.2M Series A (February 2025), Limitless Travel's £6.5M Series A (April 2025), Cycle Exchange's £2.4M round (late 2025), and Sovato Health's Series B (November 2025). The firm also participates in follow-on rounds alongside new lead investors.

Geographic Focus

• US: Midwest-focused (Michigan, and surrounding states), headquartered in Farmington Hills, MI
• UK and Europe: Pan-UK and European companies with transatlantic growth ambitions

The geographic split is distinctive — Beringea's US fund specifically targets the Midwest, where it has deep roots through the Michigan Growth Capital Partners family of funds managed since 2008.

Fund Structure and AUM

Beringea manages approximately $900M+ in total assets across two geographies.

In the UK, Beringea manages three structures:

• ProVen VCT plc — launched 2000, one of the UK's longest-standing Venture Capital Trusts
• ProVen Growth and Income VCT plc — launched 2001
• ProVen Estate Planning Service (EPS) — a discretionary portfolio service targeting Business Relief-qualifying private companies

The ProVen VCTs together manage over £350M in assets across more than 50 UK growth companies. In April 2025, ProVen VCT celebrated its 25th anniversary. In late 2025, Beringea launched a new ProVen VCT offer to raise up to £40M. The UK funds raised an additional £30M in 2025 and have invested more than £440M into over 130 growth companies over 25 years.

In the US, Beringea oversees the Michigan Growth Capital Partners family of four funds, managing close to $470M across a portfolio of approximately 22 companies.

Recent Activity (2024–2026)

Beringea has been actively deploying capital across both geographies. In 2025, the firm made four new investments: VRAI (£4.2M Series A, UK defence simulation technology, February 2025), InvestNext ($15M Series B, Detroit-based real estate investment management, February 2025), Limitless Travel (£6.5M Series A, accessible travel specialist, April 2025), and Cycle Exchange (£2.4M, UK premium pre-owned bike resale, late 2025). Follow-on investments included leading Sovato Health's Series B (total $41M, November 2025) and participating in Farmer J's £17.5M growth round (October 2025). In early 2026, the firm participated in Dealroom.co's £5M round and Kord's £6.4M Series A.

Notable Exits

Beringea has delivered numerous significant exits over three decades:

• Micro-LAM — acquired by IDEX (NYSE: IEX) for $90M plus potential $12M earnout (July 2025)
• ATLAS Space Operations — acquired by York Space Systems (NYSE: YSS) (July 2025)
• Lupa Foods — acquired by Geia Food (January 2025), delivering 5.2x cash-on-cash return
• AccessPay — majority investment by Accel-KKR (2025)
• WiredScore — acquired by Meter (2025)
• Orbion Space Technology — acquired by York Space Systems (2026)
• InTouch Health — acquired by Teladoc for over $1 billion (2020)
• mophie — acquired by ZAGG
• Third Bridge — exited
• Watchfinder and Co — exited
• Monica Vinader — exited
• Chargemaster — acquired by BP
• Eloquii — acquired by Walmart

Portfolio Highlights

Current notable US portfolio companies:

• InvestNext — real estate investment management platform supporting 1,600 GPs and 70,000 investors
• Sovato Health — remote robotic surgery platform (system-agnostic), co-founded by Dr. Yulun Wang of InTouch Health
• Authenticx — AI platform for healthcare contact center analytics and detecting reportable events
• blueprint — AI-powered mental health care platform
• Dentologie — urban dental practice operator expanding from Chicago to Seattle
• Optilogic — cloud-based supply chain design software, partnered with General Motors
• Genomenon — AI-driven genomics company; acquired Jackson Laboratory's Clinical Knowledgebase in 2025
• Flywheel — data management platform for medical research
• Akadeum Life Sciences — cell separation technology
• dscout — in-context video research platform

Current notable UK portfolio companies:

• Gorilla — cloud-based energy data processing (named to Sifted 250)
• Chattermill — AI customer experience analytics platform
• Dealroom.co — startup and ecosystem intelligence data platform
• Papier — direct-to-consumer personalized stationery brand
• Plum Guide — curated platform for premium vacation homes (named to Sifted 250)
• Learnerbly — workplace learning and development platform (named to Sifted 250)
• Moonshot — data analytics firm tackling online harms
• Andersen EV — premium home EV charging points
• Lucky Saint — leading alcohol-free lager brand
• MOTH — premium ready-to-drink cocktails (Drinks Brand of the Year, Grocer Gold Awards)
• LITTA — ethical on-demand waste collection
• Fnatic — global esports brand
• MPB — used photography and videography equipment marketplace
• CreativeX — analytics platform for visual creative assets
• Doctify — global platform for patient reviews in health and social care
• Kord — identity verification and payment processing in regulated industries
• VRAI — performance data and analytics for simulation-based defence training
• Limitless Travel — disabled-friendly travel specialist, founded by Angus Drummond
• Cycle Exchange — UK's leading premium pre-owned bike resale platform

Team

US Leadership:

• Michael Gross, Managing Partner — board observer on Orbion Space Technology; oversees US investment strategy
• Ben Bernstein, Principal — named to dBusiness "30 in Their Thirties" 2025
• William Blake III, Partner
• Shane Elliott, Partner
• Leslie Shipley, Director of Operations and CCO

UK Leadership:

• Stuart Veale, Managing Partner — leads UK investment team
• Karen McCormick, Chief Investment Officer — known for ESG leadership; leads investment decision-making
• Malcolm Moss, Founding Partner — co-founded firm in the 1980s
• Charles Rothstein, Founding Partner
• Harry Thomas, Partner and Head of Portfolio — promoted 2025; board member at My 1st Years, Social Value Portal, MOTH, and previously WiredScore
• Vanessa Evanson-Goddard, Partner and General Counsel
• Emma Biasiolo, Investment Director — led AccessPay investment over two funding rounds
• Kiu Kim, Investment Director — led Kord Series A investment
• Andrew Webster, Investment Director
• Patrick Gorton, Associate

Decision Process

Beringea operates as a partnership with US and UK teams making investment decisions through an investment committee structure. The firm has Managing Partners in each geography (Michael Gross in the US, Stuart Veale in the UK) with Karen McCormick as CIO overseeing investment decisions. The Scale-Up Academy and biennial CEO retreats demonstrate a structured, committee-driven post-investment support model.

Founder Preferences

Beringea consistently backs experienced entrepreneurs: serial founders with previous exit or scale-up experience, industry leaders with deep domain expertise, and academic experts with clear commercialization vision. The firm values capital efficiency and a clear route to profitability. Portfolio CEO testimonials consistently mention Beringea's genuine interest in the team and strategic value-add beyond capital — particularly transatlantic growth support.

ESG and Diversity

Beringea is a signatory to the Diversity VC Standard and a member of the ESG VC initiative. Karen McCormick leads ESG initiatives within the firm. The ProVen VCTs publish annual ESG benchmarking data, and the 2025 ESG VC report featured insights from over 700 portfolio companies, with Beringea participating. The firm is also a member of the Michigan Venture Capital Association (US) and the VCT Association (UK).