British Smaller Companies VCTs launch £90 million fundraise

Despite the name, the British Smaller Companies VCTs are all about making sizeable bets on sizeable businesses – in VCT terms at least. The team usually invests £2 million to £6 million at a time, and companies should have at least £1 million of revenue. These businesses are typically not start-ups that are just a twinkle in the founder’s eye, they’re established operations looking for the next phase of growth.

Historically the manager, YFM, has done a good job of backing businesses that are capable of making the jump from startup to potential world beater. In the current portfolio Outpost VFX and Matillion stand out. Visual effects business Outpost VFX has worked on everything from Star Trek to the Rings of Power, while data analytics platform Matillion is one of Europe’s fastest growing private technology businesses and boasts customers including Cisco, Amazon and Accenture – discerning customers who know the value of data.

Those successes have left the portfolio a little top heavy, with Matillion alone accounting for between 12% and 16% of net assets, but another year of successful fundraising should help the VCT further diversify its portfolio.