New profitable exit for Maven VCTs delivers returns of up to 3.7x
In January 2026, Maven Income and Growth VCTs announced the partial exit from legal-tech business Summize. Founded in 2018, Manchester-based Summize develops AI-based contract management software used by the likes of Revolut, Groq and Formula 1 racing teams.
The Maven VCTs invested £3.2 million in October 2022, and in January 2026 partially realised 40% of the holding, generating proceeds of £4.7 million, equivalent to a return of up to 3.7x including a retained equity stake, valued at £7.1 million (January 2026). The VCTs have also reinvested a further £3 million.
The realisation comes as part of a £40 million investment led by Maven's institutional buyout fund alongside specialist tech investment firm Kennet Partners, global investor Federated Hermes, and UK private equity house YFM Equity Partners.
Summize has continued to perform strongly since the Maven VCTs' first investment. It has more than doubled its revenue growth in each of the past five years as expanded from the UK into the US.
Why did the Maven VCTs invest in Summize? What might be next for Summize? How could you invest in Summize and similar companies through the Maven VCTs? Read on to find out more.
Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not advice nor a research or personal recommendation to invest. If you’re unsure, please seek advice. VCT investments are high risk and you could lose the money you invest.
This transaction delivers an attractive and strategic outcome for our VCT investors, providing a meaningful partial realisation while allowing us to maintain an ongoing equity stake in a high-performing business. Summize continues to demonstrate strong operating momentum and recurring revenue growth, and we believe the decision to reinvest alongside new institutional partners positions the company well for sustained long-term value creation.
What does Summize do?
A leader in Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) AI software, Summize helps in-house legal teams deal with reams of contract documents more quickly and efficiently – including carrying out intelligent reviews of draft legal contracts against pre-determined parameters (contract playbook) and a customer’s bank of signed contracts.
Summize’s product suite can be embedded within familiar platforms such as Slack, Microsoft Word, Outlook, Gmail and Salesforce. This allows legal teams to create, review and submit contracts within the business tools they already use.
The company was founded in 2018 by CEO Tom Dunlop, previously a General Counsel and Legal Director for several fast-growing tech companies, and CTO David Smith, a software developer with 30 years’ experience across a wide range of technologies.
Summize’s customers now range from Revolut, Komatsu, Huel, Matillion, Groq, Thought Machine and Fujifilm, to Formula 1 racing teams and professional sports franchises in the NBA, MLB and NFL.
Why did the Maven VCTs invest in Summize?
When the Maven VCTs first invested in October 2022, the aim was to support Summize’s expansion into the UK and US markets, help further develop its technology, and capitalise on the global CLM software market’s projected growth to $3.30 billion by 2027.
Maven looks to invest in companies in sectors the manager considers defensive and somewhat insulated from changes in discretionary consumer spending – for instance, cybersecurity, software and data analytics. The VCTs target established businesses, available at attractive valuations, typically generating over £1 million in revenue, with robust growth prospects and led by proven management teams.
Summize met these criteria and has indeed delivered impressive growth.
In each of the past two years, the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 has ranked Summize among the top 10 fastest-growing tech companies in the UK. Deloitte’s prestigious list recognises revenue growth driven by leading intellectual property (you can read more about this in our article).
The Summize approach to innovation, its strong leadership team, and impressive company culture make it a strong investment. From its roots in summarizing contracts, the company has expanded its capabilities rapidly to become a cutting-edge Contract Lifecycle Management solution that has attracted global clients. With an exciting roadmap and big, future ideas, we’re looking forward to the next phase of growth and continued success with Summize.
What next for Summize?
In Maven’s view, the recent funding round marks Summize’s evolution from early-stage scale-up to an established and strategically positioned platform with a strong transatlantic presence.
Its latest investment aims to help the business continue to develop its product, strengthen its leadership team and scale its US operations to meet growing demand.
Whilst Summize continues to build its customer base in the US, it has also recently launched a conversational-AI assistant called Ask SIA – legal teams can use this to query, analyse, and summarise contract data. The company reports this is seeing very good early upsells.
How might you invest in similar companies?
The Maven Income and Growth VCTs and are currently fundraising and open for investment. When you invest across the four VCTs you will get exposure to a combined portfolio of over 130 companies, including Summize.
The Income and Growth VCTs are established and well-diversified trusts that primarily target regional unquoted businesses. Sharing the same broad strategy, they have combined net assets of £288 million (December 2025). Maven also manages funds for the British Business Bank and the Scottish Government.
The VCTs experienced a flurry of exit activity in the two years to January 2026, with nine full and partial exits generating £89.4 million in proceeds against a cost of £29.8 million (including the value of retained stakes in MirrorWeb, Novatus and Summize).
Over the five years to 31 December 2025, the Maven VCTs produced NAV total returns (including dividends) ranging from 10.0% to 19.6%. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
See performance of the Maven VCTs
NAV and cumulative dividends per share over five years (p)
Source: Morningstar. Past performance is no guide to the future. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed. The bar chart shows net asset value and cumulative dividends per share for the period 31/12/2020 - 30/12/2025.
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Alex Davies
Chief Executive
Alex was a board director at Hargreaves Lansdown, where he worked for 15 years. He was responsible for building Hargreaves Lansdown into the biggest direct-to-consumer SIPP provider in the UK with more than 150,000 clients and over £12 billion under management. He is a keen investor with a portfolio of shares, funds, student property, EIS and VCT investments.