Beringea, manager of ProVen VCT and ProVen Growth and Income VCT (the ProVen VCTs), has today announced the launch of the latest share offer from two of the UK’s largest and longest-standing VCTs. The combined offer from the ProVen VCTs will target a total raise of £30m, with the potential for a £10m over-allotment.
The ProVen VCTs have been managed since foundation by Beringea, a transatlantic venture capital firm that manages over $900m across its funds in the UK and the US. Together, the ProVen VCTs manage more than £320m and have a portfolio of more than 50 entrepreneurial companies.
Investors in the new offer will have the opportunity to tap into a growing portfolio of businesses that includes the likes of Lucky Saint, the UK’s leading independent low-alcohol beer, DASH Water, the rapidly growing seltzer water brand, and Gorilla, an energytech scale-up that announced its £20m Series B earlier this year.
The ProVen VCTs have a track-record of more than 20 years of delivering returns to shareholders through backing innovative scaling companies through to exit. Profitable exits in recent years have included the sales of Monica Vinader – the ProVen VCTs sold their stake in the jewellery brand to Bridgepoint in 2023 to deliver a 13.3x on the final divestment – and Blis, a leading adtech platform that was backed by LDC in 2023 in an investment that saw the ProVen VCTs realise a 6.5x return.
The funds raised through the latest offer will also provide the opportunity to tap into the substantial pipeline of investment opportunities sourced by Beringea for the ProVen VCTs. In 2024, the ProVen VCTs have added companies to the portfolio including Andersen EV, a leading provider of premium home charging points for electric vehicles, and Farmer J, a rapidly growing chain of restaurants serving healthy, sustainable meals.
VCTs back the growth of early-stage companies across the UK, at the same time offering investors a series of attractive tax benefits. These include 30 per cent up-front tax relief on the investment, tax-free dividends, and no capital gains tax on the realisation of shares in VCTs.
Since launch, an investor in ProVen VCT would have benefited from a NAV total return of £189 for every £100 invested, while an investor in ProVen Growth and Income VCT would have received a NAV total return of £223 for every £100 invested.
Stuart Veale, Managing Partner of Beringea, commented: “The ProVen VCTs have a substantial track-record of backing high-growth companies with the potential to become international success stories. Leveraging this experience and Beringea’s transatlantic footprint, we are seeing plenty of opportunity to foster the next generation of breakout successes and this offer will help us to capitalise on this.”
The offer opened on 6 November 2024 and will close on 3 April 2024 in respect of the 2024-2025 Offer and 30 April 2025 in respect of the 2025-2026 offer, or as soon as the offer is fully subscribed. The directors of each of the Companies may decide to extend the Offer in respect of their Company at their absolute discretion to a date no later than 5 November 2025.
Any investors interested in participating in this fundraise will find further information including the securities note and key documents on the ProVen VCTs website. Beringea can also be contacted on info@beringea.co.uk or 020 7845 7820.
