Beringea et al. exit Altacor

Esperante has held a minority stake in Altacor for the last five years, believed to stand at around 14%.

Beringea first invested in Altacor in 2007. The firm then took part in the company's £1m series-B round in August 2009 alongside new backer Esperante, angel investors and the Aspire Fund, the UK government's Capital for Enterprise-managed £12.5m vehicle that focuses on supporting women-led businesses.

Beringea backed the company again in February 2011 alongside Enterprise Ventures and NVM Private Equity, the latter of which led the round. The three firms supplied the business with £1.9m.

Enterprise Ventures invested in the company via its RisingStars Growth Fund II and took 6% stake, while Beringea invested via its ProVen Health VCT and is believed to have held a 15.1% stake. NVM backed the business through its Northern Venture Trust, Northern 2 VCT and Northern 3 VCT vehicles, which are understood to have collectively held a 15.2% stake.

Esperante is the investment arm of life sciences group C&P. It focuses its investments on therapeutics, in vitro diagnostics and medical device companies in Europe and the US.

Company
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Cambridge, Altacor develops speciality products for chronic eye conditions such as dry eye syndrome and blepharitis, a condition that causes the edge of eyelids to become inflamed.

The company currently has a portfolio of eight products that are marketed in the UK and Ireland. Its product base includes its prescription Clinitas range for treating dry eye and its Blepharitis range, which is designed to treat the underlying symptoms of blepharitis.

Altacor has also developed a chocolate bar, EyeBar, that is designed to be an ocular supplement and contains a certain formula - comprising certain metals and vitamins - that the company claims has been proven to aid in the maintenance of healthy vision and slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration.

People
Fran Crawford is the CEO of Altacor. Stephane Mery is a partner at Beringea.

Advisers
Company - Longcross Advisers (Corporate finance).

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• Beringea Limited
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