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Beringea UK named leading VC firm for ESG practices by BVCA

‘Excellence in ESG’ award recognised “outstanding commitment to ESG principles”

Beringea, the transatlantic venture capital investor, has been named by a panel of ESG experts as the leading General Partner with an AUM less than £1bn in the BVCA’s annual ‘Excellence in ESG’ awards.

The judging panel recognised Beringea’s “outstanding commitment to ESG principles” and “for driving industry collaboration through its ESG_VC benchmarking initiative and its commitment to bringing more firms onboard.”

Beringea has spearheaded the ESG_VC initiative, which brings together more than 125 venture firms to provide early-stage companies with the tools and resources to measure and improve their ESG performance. The ESG_VC Measurement Framework, which asks portfolio companies to respond to 48 metrics to benchmark ESG performance, is today used by leading venture capital firms across the U.K. and Europe including Atomico, Seedcamp, and Highland Europe.

Using the ESG_VC Measurement Framework, Beringea has completed a significant benchmarking exercise across its portfolio, providing data on the performance of companies across sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and corporate governance practices. Beringea uses this data to inform a programme of activity and resources to help leadership teams to improve their ESG performance. In the past year, it has provided training on net zero strategy, unconscious bias, and remote working.

Henry Philipson, Director of Marketing and Communications at Beringea and Co-Founder of ESG_VC, commented: “We have seen that companies that take ESG seriously are able to recruit better, build closer relationships with customers, and prepare for the scrutiny of regulators and investors. This award is fantastic recognition of our work, and a step forward as we scale ESG_VC and our support to our portfolio as they become more sustainable, more diverse, better corporate citizens.”

Kerry Baldwin, current BVCA chair and Co-Managing Partner of IQ Capital said: “ESG is no longer seen as a box-ticking exercise. It very much is a value driver. And our members are obviously very committed to it. We run the Excellence in ESG Awards to recognise members’ vital work and inspire others.”

Karen McCormick, Chief Investment Officer of Beringea and Chair of ESG_VC, commented: “At Beringea, we are committed to providing our portfolio with access to practical resources and training that give companies a fundamental understanding into ESG and prepares them for future growth, regulation, and investment.”

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