Midven backs student support firm BeGo

A COVENTRY-based business which helps overseas students quickly settle into life in the UK has won backing from venture capital specialists Midven.

BeGo, which offers an online portal to help students pre-arrange a range of services before they arrive in the UK, has secured investment through Midven’s Early Advantage fund.

The investment amount has not been announced.

More than 150,000 students a year arrive in this country to study at university, often ill-prepared for what lies ahead.

BeGo – set up by business partners Gaston Chee and Jennifer Leong – enables overseas students to concentrate on their studies and not waste time and effort on finding services that UK students take for granted.

Chee said: “Unlike UK students, who arrive with everything they need from laptop computers to kettles and many more home comforts, foreign students arrive with just one suitcase with their clothes. They then face the arduous task of arranging everything from opening a bank account to selecting a mobile phone to buying insurance.

“By using our services, the students will be able to select and pay for services and products including household goods.  The online portal will initially focus on students arriving from the Far East and will be written in the appropriate language of each country.”

Giovanni  Finocchio, investment manager with Midven’s Early Advantage fund, said: “We liked the entrepreneurial flair of this young team from day one. Their passion and desire to get the business up and running was evident. 

“We knew that if we backed them, along with the additional skills and experience the private investors bring, this would become a quality business that will go on and thrive and create jobs in the region.”