Octopus Investments launches £20mn AIM VCT fundraise

VCT fundraising season is underway with a second fundraise announced yesterday (September 22).

Octopus Investment has launched a £20mn joint fundraise for its two Alternative Investment Market VCTs, Octopus AIM VCT and Octopus AIM VCT 2.

The VCTs invest in AIM companies across the pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare services, software development and clean energy tech sectors.

Both VCTs target a 5 per cent dividend each year.

Senior fund manager at Octopus Investments, Kate Tidbury, said many AIM company valuations have felt the effect of uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions.

“Despite the challenging environment, however, qualifying small businesses continued to be able raise funds to help them thrive thanks to VCTs,” she said.

Tidbury added that Octopus believes there is room for valuations to recover when the market outlook improves.

“We are continuing to focus on finding companies and management teams that we think can deliver significant growth over the long-term.”

The new share offer for the VCTs is open until March 31 next year for the 2022/23 tax year, and September 21 next year for the 2023/24 tax year. The offers will close earlier if either become fully subscribed.

The minimum investment is £5,000.

Earlier this week (September 22), Puma Investments announced a £40mn fundraise for its VCT 13.

sally.hickey@ft.com