Octopus Investments has opened a new £50 million fundraise for Octopus Apollo VCT.
The VCT invests in growing technology companies, specifically smaller business-to-business (B2B) software companies, that have already brought their product or service to market successfully and require fresh capital to accelerate their growth plans.
The Apollo VCT investment team focuses on these types of businesses, Octopus said, ‘because it believes a company is more likely to succeed if it has already proven that there is a market for what it does and can demonstrate it has a diversified, loyal and growing customer base’.
Also, the capital the team invests usually goes towards increasing sales and marketing efforts, making improvements to products or helping the business expand into new geographies.
Aside from capital, the investment team also uses their expertise to support the growth of portfolio companies, by providing strategic guidance and access to a network of experienced, go-to-market consultants, as well as assisting with senior talent recruitment.
An example of one of the companies invested in is Switchee. Founded in 2015, Switchee aims to improve the lives of people living in rented social housing. It provides smart thermostat devices that allow landlords to more effectively control and regulate social housing, and to optimise sustainability and ensure the safety of their residents. This includes helping identify and prevent mould in homes, lowering heating bills and improving communications between residents and social housing providers through its platform.
Paul Davidson, Lead Fund Manager of the Apollo VCT, said: “The investment team of Apollo VCT has developed a strong reputation in the market, which has given us access to a large volume of investment opportunities within our areas of expertise. It means we can be highly selective in choosing the right companies for us to support. Our team considers over 500 investment opportunities a year and we then make significant, high-conviction investments into the eight to twelve new companies we really believe can scale successfully with our capital.
“These tend to be companies with loyal clients and ‘sticky revenues’, owing to the long-term contracts they enter into with their customers. We then work alongside a company’s founders to drive growth in the business and to target long-term value creation.”
Jess Franks, Head of Investment Products, Octopus Investments said:
“There are nearly six million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, and without targeted incentives for investors, many of these high-growth businesses would struggle to get the capital that enables them to develop. It is with this in mind that we were pleased to see the official confirmation of the extension of the sunset clause earlier this year, which will allow investors in qualifying companies and VCTs to continue to receive Income Tax relief until April 2035.
“We carried out some research among the adviser community in September2024 and 44% said that due to this extension they expect to be advising more on VCTs this year. This shows how advisers are continuing to see VCTs as a great investment for clients looking for smart tax planning and access to the UK’s growing smaller companies.”
The minimum investment amount for Apollo VCT is £5,000. The new share offer is open until the 3April 2025 for the 2024/2025 tax year and 22 October 2025 for the 2025/2026 tax year. The offer will close earlier if it becomes fully subscribed.
