YFM closes £60m VCT fundraising for tech businesses in just seven weeks
YFM Equity Partners has seen the offers for its two managed Venture Capital Trusts fully subscribed. After launching on 22nd September, it has already succeeded in raising £60m of committed funds as it continues to invest in SMEs nationwide, with a focus on businesses in the tech sector.
With offices in Leeds, Manchester, London, Reading, and Birmingham, this takes the partner-led private equity firm to over £400m of funds under management, providing funding for UK businesses. British Smaller Companies VCT plc was first listed on the stock exchange in 1996 and British Smaller Companies VCT2 plc in 2000. The two VCTs comprise funds from more than 10,000 investors, mainly private individuals, who have each committed sums of between £3,000 and £200,000.
The YFM managed VCTs have supported the growth of more than 100 companies so far, with an increasing focus on investing within the digital and software sectors.
David Hall, managing director of YFM, comments:
“Having been set up by the government 26 years ago to help grow young businesses, VCTs have played a vital role in helping dynamic, early-stage SMEs across the UK to realise their potential, and it’s extremely encouraging to see their popularity continuing with the latest round of our managed VCTs’ fundraising closing so quickly."
Hall continues: “There’s no doubt that VCTs have proved effective at bridging the funding gap for the UK’s most innovative, young businesses and, increasingly, many of these are in the tech sector. Around 80% by value of our investment portfolio is now in digital and software businesses and we have become experts both in the sectors and in supporting scaling up challenges.
“Our focus on tech has led to us working with some truly exciting businesses, and, with the speed of growth in this area having accelerated as a result of the pandemic and the resulting digital transformation, this latest fundraising enables us to increase our support. Not only is this positive for the UK economy and job creation, the strong performance of our managed VCTs, together with the tax benefits they deliver, means that they are also well supported by investors.”
YFM has a portfolio of around 40 companies throughout the UK and its VCT managed funds typically invest around £2m to £10m per transaction.
