Tim Rea

Tim Rea has spent more than 20 years in the venture capital and start-up ecosystem, first as an entrepreneur and subsequently as an investor. He has been a party to more than 120 investments across a wide range of sectors, stages and geographies. Before BGF he held roles connected to SoftBank, NEC and DFJ ePlanet Capital, giving him deep exposure to global technology (TMT) investing. He holds an MBA from London Business School.

Tim joined BGF in January 2018, after informally supporting the firm on a number of projects over the preceding 18 months. His main role is to identify and execute investments with a particular focus on technology-oriented and life-sciences propositions, and he sits on BGF's Investment Committee. He is now Co-Head of the firm's Early Stage team, which he manages alongside colleagues such as Dennis Atkinson and Ian Downing.

At BGF, Tim has been instrumental in expanding the firm's support for the life sciences sector across its regional office network, with a personal emphasis on diagnostics. BGF's Early Stage arm backs founders across the UK and Ireland building world-leading businesses in deep tech and life sciences, and now holds a portfolio of roughly 70 early-stage companies within BGF's ~350-company total.

He takes active board and advisory roles at portfolio companies, having served as a director or board member at businesses including PredictImmune, OrganOx, PhoreMost, CroíValve, Phico Therapeutics, and — from earlier in his career — companies such as Paddle, BullGuard and Palringo.

• Invests through BGF's Early Stage team in late-seed to Series B UK & Ireland companies, writing cheques generally in the ~£1m–£10m range with substantial follow-on capacity.
• Concentrates on deep tech and life sciences — Tim is "particularly passionate about the application of new, disruptive technologies into the healthcare and life sciences ecosystems," with a specific interest in diagnostics.
• Looks for IP-protected, privately owned businesses with breakthrough technology and clear scale potential; BGF positions itself as a patient, minority, non-controlling partner rather than a short-horizon fund.
• In his own words on the sector opportunity: *"The UK and Ireland is brimming with talent, and we are at the forefront of innovation in some of the most critically important sectors of our time."*
• On the diagnostics thesis behind the PredictImmune deal: *"The diagnostics landscape has changed dramatically in recent years,"* particularly around early prognosis and disease management.