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Beringea's new lending arm has completed its first two deals

Healthcare marketing agency Cogora and FinTech firm Celoxica have been the first beneficiaries of the new lending arm of venture capital firm Beringea.

The growth capital investor has launched its new lending company, ProVen Legacy, with a pair of loans to support both companies, which have previously benefitted from investment from Beringea, on their next stage of growth.

Media and marketing business Cogora has received a £500k loan to build on its work providing market research and consultancy services to healthcare organisations, as well as support its continued push into the EU market triggered by its Beringea-supported acquisition of PCM Healthcare.

London-headquartered Celoxica, which provides ultra-low latency tech to help major banks and trading houses to optimise their trading platforms, has received a £250k loan which the firm will channel towards sales growth in 2017.

Jean-Marc Bouhelier, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Celoxica, which has previously received £1.5m in funding from Beringea back in 2014, hailed the investor’s role in the company’s growth.

He said: “We’ve had a great relationship with Beringea since we first started working together in 2014. Beringea has been the perfect partner for us, through its network and its product offer, allowing us to scale-up our business without the need to raise further equity.”

ProVen has been established to help investors benefit from inheritance tax relief (IHT), giving clients the opportunity to claim 100% tax relief from IHT on their ProVen Legacy share as long as they have been held for at least two years and at the time of death.

Beringea has said that the new lender’s focus will be on supporting scaleups across a range of industries and will be offering loans of up to £5m.

Mark Taylor, Partner at Beringea, explained that Cogora and Celoxica’s estbalished global bases made them ideal first deals for the lender.

He added: “ProVen Legacy was created to help investors address a growing inheritance tax problem, while enabling Beringea to support later stage businesses as they enter a crucial stage of growth.

“These businesses, whether they are existing portfolio companies looking to raise additional capital through debt funding, or companies in which Beringea hasn’t previously invested, have the potential to scale significantly, making a considerable contribution to the UK economy as they do.”

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