It was granted a royal monopoly over the trade with West Africa by Charles I, modelled on the existing English Guinea Company, with which it unofficially co-operated.
The company made only a single voyage, of two ships; one returned, whilst the other was seized by Portuguese forces at São Tomé and its crew killed.
The first major overseas venture was in the North Atlantic fisheries in 1617, which failed, and an attempt to colonise Nova Scotia and Cape Breton in the 1620s, likewise unsuccessful.
[1] The first and only voyage funded by the Company left Britain in late 1636, with two ships, and in the spring of 1637 attempted to trade on the Gold Coast.
[2] Returning home in September, it put into the Portuguese colony of São Tomé for repairs, where it was treated as hostile; the ship and cargo were seized, whilst most of the crew was killed.