Newbean Capital is a registered investment adviser that manages early stage venture capital mandates on behalf of institutional clients.

Newbean Capital’s founder - Nicola Kerslake - has spent more than 20 years in investment banking, research and management in Europe, Asia and the US. After spending time as a rated equity analyst at ABN Amro Hoare Govett in London, she led a team of equity analysts in Asia, achieving top 3 ratings in independent analyst rankings. In the US, she has managed hedge fund portfolios at a subsidiary of Monitor Deloitte and managed and established private equity and real asset platforms for SEI Investments. Her coverage sectors have included traditional and renewable energy, chemicals, water, agriculture, farmland, and forestland.

Since 2013, Nicola has managed a venture fund – Battle Born Venture - for US Treasury’s SSBCI program.  The fund’s unique “blind” investment process has led to a higher-than-average investment in minority and women entrepreneurs.  Investment areas include fintech, edtech, ecommerce, niche consumer and software.  Its second, 2023 vintage, fund is more than five times the size of its first.

In 2022, Nicola stood up a $200m venture fund and fund of funds, focused on underserved populations, for California’s iBank, a first for the State of California.

Newbean Capital has created a compliance and reporting software platform – Newbean Comply – that supports states in their reporting to US Treasury.  Elsewhere, Nicola has developed software platforms in edtech, fintech and marketplaces.  These incorporate ecommerce, CRM, community development and AI techniques.

A graduate with honors of Magdalen College, Oxford, where she studied politics, philosophy and economics, Nicola also holds Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification. Her work has been featured in leading financial media, including the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.