What the Gresham House Ventures team look for before investing in a company

A laser focus on people and teams is embedded within the Gresham House Ventures DNA and provides a guiding light for their investment decisions.

The team has a portfolio of c.70 companies across a wide range of industries - from e-commerce to sustainable tech - and has made over 200 investments to date.

The Gresham House Ventures team sits as part of Gresham House, focused on providing growth equity funding for entrepreneurial companies and has over 20 investment professionals supported by a further 20+ staff.

Chief Investment Officer, Trevor Hope said: "Quality of management is at the core of everything we look for.

"We look for a team which is impressive in terms of their achievements to date but also their passions and skills, and at the opportunity they are presenting."

COMPANY HISTORY

Gresham House, which has over £7bn of assets under management, has a history which goes back to 1857, however it was reinvigorated in 2014.

The company was repositioned as a sustainability-focused vehicle where family offices, individuals and pensions could invest in alternative assets.

The company has grown organically and also through acquisitions, notably acquiring Livingbridge’s VC business (inclusive of the Baronsmead VCTs) in 2018 and Mobeus Capital Partners’ Venture Capital Trust business in 2021.

Trevor, who arrived at the London-headquartered firm as part of the Mobeus VCTs acquisition, said that a common aspect to all dynamic management teams is a clarity of vision.

He said: "We call management teams like this visionaries because when you talk to them about the future of their business, there is true clarity around the things that will drive a particular outcome or opportunity.

"They see it in a way which is so clear that you can buy into their vision. Along with this we look for the energy, enthusiasm and drive needed to deliver it.

"We are not looking for a team which is 100 percent firing on all cylinders but we are looking for potential as we expect the company to go on a journey."

COVID

For a people-focused investment firm, the pandemic presented a challenge in gaining a deep understanding of the teams and enterprises under consideration.

Trevor said: "With Covid we found you can do a lot of things online when it comes to understanding how management teams work but there is still nothing better than going out to a company and walking on their factory floor, talking to them and understanding who they are as people.

"Good management teams can be challenging because there is such a strong belief in what they think they can achieve.

"They don't roll over in discussions, want to learn and are strong in their views and ambition."

CHAMPIONING

This focus on teams is not only something that Gresham House Ventures looks for in the companies it invests in, but it is core to how the company operates.

Central to this approach is ensuring that the wider team buys into the opportunity.

Trevor said: "We have an approach of championing and we learn all about a company’s sector, all about the management team and all about the relationships within the company - then we say this is why we should invest.

"That is exciting because as an investor there is nothing better than having to immerse yourself in a management team and it also helps to build relationships.

"We as a team will then get behind them as we all believe it is the right thing to do."

TEAM APPROACH

This team approach to investment leads to better decisions through access to wider networks, a deepening of the knowledge base and it also changes perceptions of risk.

Trevor said: "One of things we love very much is that we have different divisions within the organisation covering different sectors.

"There is also value in the risk approach. If you are an individual looking at a particular company and if you are taking all the risk on your shoulders, that will change your risk approach and how you look at things.

"If we make an investment, we make it as a team and on that basis we are all in it together. If we succeed, we all succeed together and the same applies if it doesn't work out."

BUILDING THE RIGHT TEAM

Once an investment decision is made, the focus shifts to equipping the management team with the resources they need to drive the business forward and access to talent is key to the Gresham House Ventures offering.

Trevor said: "We also have one of the most experienced investment teams in the industry.

"We also have added value services like talent management which is led by Hazel Cameron.

"She has decades of experience in helping companies recruit the right people to their boards and helping companies with their executive recruitment."

PLATFORM

Investing is very much a two-way street, with high performing companies sought after by investment houses.

Why then, do management teams opt for Gresham House Ventures?

Trevor says that companies buy into its long-term approach to investment, access to funds and its commitment to sustainability.

He said: "We have cash that we are willing to invest, can raise money on an ad hoc basis and also can do multiple investment rounds.

"We have access to capital as we require it and we also had a very successful fundraising round of £100m in the last tax year which was oversubscribed.

"We are committed as an organisation to sustainable investing. The company has been at the forefront of it for many years and we take it seriously when talking to our portfolio companies in terms of their approach."

Trevor says growing on a growth journey with a company is a privilege and that he and the team derive satisfaction from helping management teams along on their journey.

He said: “I’m a wannabe entrepreneur who doesn’t have the concentration to focus on one company and I like going on the journey with a company where you see a start-up with an idea grow into a company that is hiring hundreds of people.”