History

Vanguard Atlantic was formed in Connecticut as an S-Corp. general partnership in 1984;VAL was formed iin 1984 to act as a buy-side M&A firm, but circumstances quickly led to direct investing.

Initial partners and associates: General Partners: Ernest E. "Lee" Keet, John J. ("Jack") Pendray, & Jan Rumberger; Associates: A.G.W. ("Jack") Biddle, Denis Riney, Catherine Phillips, & Julia (Johnson) Mednick

Buy-side advisories ended in 1989 when VAL moved completely into venture investing, but with partner management participation in each undertaking.

Chronology:

From 1984 through 1989 VAL performed buy-side investment banking for major investors (NYNEX, Coopers & Lybrand, National Semiconductor, and others) ;
In 1985 the company began making private equity investments for its own account. Investments have ranged from $150,000 to $30 million (see investments);
In 1987 Pendray and Keet published "Strategic Development for High Technology Businesses" picked by Stanford University as one of the ten best books ever written on strategic planning. It is still available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com (ISBN # 0-9618891-0-7)
In 1989 Vanguard Atlantic left investment banking and turned its focus entirely to private equity investing;
Vanguard Atlantic’s investment funds have all been provided by its general partners;
The initial partnership ended in 1992 with a partial distribution of assets; The current controlling shareholders are individuals and family trusts;
Leveraged buyout of System Software Division of Dun & Bradstreet Software Group, 1985: Creation of Vanguard Atlantic Financial Corp. to manage the liquidation of selected D&B software leases;
Formation in April 1985 of TSI International Ltd. TSI, renamed Mercator Software in early 2000, was the leading supplier of data transformation "middleware". Vanguard Atlantic participated in four subsequent finance rounds leading to a public offer (NASDQ:MCTR) in 1997;
Formation of Document Systems Inc. in 1986. DSI provided full text indexing and search software for very large data retrieval applications. Vanguard Atlantic participated in one subsequent financing round prior to its sale to AMS in 1992;
Formation of Decision Technology Inc. in 1986. DTI supplied advanced data extraction and reporting software. DTI was sold to its management group in 1990;
Purchase of controlling interest in Information Science Inc. (NASDQ: INSI) in 1988. All Information Science assets were sold to Computer Associates in 1990;
Formation of ECsoft in 1990. ECsoft was a pan-European supplier of client-server and Year 2000 consulting and project management services. ECsoft made an initial public offer of its shares in 1996 (NASDQ:ECSGY);
Creation of EDventure Ventures in 1994. Vanguard Atlantic acted as both co-general (with Managing Partner Esther Dyson) and as lead limited partner. EDventure Ventures invested in Eastern European technology startups and expansions, e.g., Scala Business Solutions, Poland OnLine, New World Publishing and others. The fund distributed its assets to the partners in 2002;
Formation of Axolotl Corp. in 1995. Axolotl provided collaborative clinical messaging systems to link ambulatory care providers to their healthcare partners and to each other. Vanguard Atlantic invested in Axolotl's first, third (1998), and fourth (2001) rounds;
In 1997 Vanguard Atlantic was one of the initial limited partner investors in Novak Biddle LP. In 1999 and 200 Vanguard Atlantic invested in the Novak Biddle Venture Partnerships II and III.
In late 1998 Vanguard Atlantic made a seed investment in Engenia Software Inc. Engenia's enterprise management software helped companies manage and implement large scale programs to create a "coordinated enterprise" based on business goals and strategies.
In October, 1999 Axolotl merged with AccentHealth. AccentHealth subsequently change the corporate name to Axolotl Corporation. while retaining the AccentHealth mark for its patient portal. Vanguard Atlantic became the largest single shareholder in the merger.
Between 1998 and 2000 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. made real estate investments in Colorado and New York. These properties are held either for capital appreciation and/or to serve as the locations for new start-up businesses. The New York property became the site of the Saranac Lake Community Solar facility.
In March, 2000 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. formed VAL e-Investments L.P., a venture fund managed by ex-Vanguard Partner Jan D. Rumberger.
In April, 2000 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. invested in ALARA, Inc. a manufacturer of digital dentistry, bone mineral density, and computer-based (non-film) radiography devices.
In May, 2000 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. provided seed funding to Cinemetrix, Inc. Cinemetrix created custom animation for E-commerce and other sites needing positive feedback and improved accession costs. In June 2001 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. provided second round funding to Cinemetrix.
In July 2002 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. joined with Tudor Equity and other prior investors in a $17.5 million fourth round of funding for Axolotl Corp.
In 2003 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. joined with St. Paul Venture Capital, Novak Biddle Venture Partners, the Dominion Fund, and others in providing bridge financing to Engenia Software Inc. prior to it launching a Series D preferred round of financing.
On September 5, 2003 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. led a $1 million Series G preferred round of financing at Alara, Inc., to assist the company in the launch of its imminent Computerized Radiology (CR) product, CrystalView.
On September 12, 2003 Ascential Software Inc. announced that it had completed the acquisition of Mercator Software in a public tender. Vanguard Atlantic tendered all of its shares in Mercator in the merger. Ascential was subsequently acquired by IBM.
In October, 2004, Conamara Partners managed the purchase of Axolotl's AccentHealth division for a combination of cash and debt.
In April, 2005 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. and Asset Management Company provided Alara, Inc. with $1.75 million of new capital to complete the CrystalView line of desktop Computerized Radiography (CR) devices. In November 2005 they provided Alara with an additional $1.75mm line of credit to be used in the marketing and distribution of CrystalView.
In March 2006 Axolotl completed a share repurchase and sale that left Vanguard Atlantic, who declined to sell shares in the offer, as the majority shareholder of preferred shares.
From 2006 until 2010 Vanguard Atlantic invested an additional $2 million in Alara, matched pro rata by its other partners. In late 2012 into 2013 Alara sold off its various product lines and assets to its distributors.
In March 2008 Vanguard Atlantic made a small ($200,000) minority investment in Packaged Business Solutions, International
In October 2008 Vanguard Atlantic joined other investors in providing bridge financing to a "B" round for Packaged Business Solutions, International
In August 2010 Axolotl merged with Ingenix, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Health Group, in a cash-for-stock transaction. Vanguard's investors were rewarded for their 16-year patience and re-investments with roughly a 10x return.
In March 2012 Vanguard Atlantic led an investment in Clinithink, a U.K.-based firm specializing in natural language processing of medical texts with resulting SNOMED output. Ernest E. (Lee) Keet was elected to represent Vanguard Atlantic on the Clinithink board.
In June 2014 Vanguard Atlantic led an additional round at Clinithink to finance the company's expansion into vertical market applications that take advantage of the power of CliX, the company's natural language technology. The first such application, cohort selection for clinical trails is currently being rolled out.
In July 2014 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. joined a small group of private investors in the acquisition of ServiceChannel, a SaaS logistics company that addresses the underserved facilities management sector. In 2017 Axcel Partners made a major investment at a significant step-up from VAL's basis.
In 2016 VAL helped form Point Positive, an Adirondack-focused angel fund. Subsequently, VAL invested $2 million in five local companiesthrough the Point Positive angel group.
In 2017 Vanguard Atlantic lead a C-round for Clinithink
In 2018 Vanguard Atlantic invested in SLIC Network Solutions, SLIC Network Solutions connects communities to the world with high speed data, video and phone service via fiber to homes & businesses across Northern NY
In November 2018 Vanguard Atlantic co-invested with Triple Tree Partners and Merck in a $10 million D round for Clinithink at a $40 million pre-money valuation.
In June 2019 Vanguard Atlantic formed a join venture with Sunvestment Energy Group to build a 2mw solar utility on property owned by VAL in Saranac Lake NY. The Saranac Lake Community Solar facility powers 140 homes and the local hospital.
In August 2021 Service Channel was acquired by Fortive Corporation giving VAL shareholders a 13x return.

From 2008 to 2025 Vanguard Atlantic Ltd. managed a private hedge fund. Annual returns from this portfolio have consistently outperformed the markets.

In 2017, VAL led a third financing round for Clinithink.

In 2018 VAL invested in SLIC Network Solutions. SLIC connects communities to the world with high speed data, video and phone service via fiber to homes & businesses across Northern NY

In 2019 VAL invested in Saranac Lake Community Solar (SLCS), a joint venture with Sunvestment Energy Group. SLCS provides 2mw of clean solar energy that powers 140 homes and the local hospital.

In 2021 Service Channel was sold to Fortive Corporation for $1.2 billion giving VAL shareholders a 13x return.

In 2025 Clinithink ceased operations. It was the last major holding of VAL other than real estate, cash and marketable securities, and its holdings of PointPositive portfolio companies

In early 2026 Lee Keet, the remaining partner, ended all investing other than through Point Positive