YFM’s British Smaller Companies VCTs Fundraising

The latest Offers from the British Smaller Companies VCTs (the BSC VCTs), managed by YFM Equity Partners, have seen strong early demand, with applications exceeding £30 million within just three weeks of launch.

The BSC VCTs are seeking to raise up to £60 million, with an over-allotment facility of up to £25 million. The offers will close on 27 March 2026, unless fully subscribed earlier.

This fundraising will enable the BSC VCTs to continue backing ambitious, high-growth UK businesses as they scale.

Since their inception, the BSC VCTs have played a key role in supporting the growth of innovative and regionally based UK businesses. Managed by YFM Equity Partners, which operates from five regional offices across the UK, the VCTs invest in entrepreneurial teams with bold ambitions, providing the long-term growth capital and partnership needed to help their companies scale.

With combined VCT assets under management of £471 million (as at 30 June 2025), the BSC VCTs continue to see healthy demand for growth capital across the regions. This investment pipeline is driven by YFM’s nationwide office network and regional origination focus.

For over 25 years, the BSC VCTs have maintained a steady commitment to supporting high-potential UK businesses. With one of the larger investment teams in the VCT market, we take an active approach to portfolio management.

• In the two years to 30 September 2025, we have made investments totalling £68.6 million in new and follow-on opportunities.
• Across the last 43 realised investments to 30 June 2025, the VCTs have achieved an average total return of 2.25x cost.
• Over ten years to 30 June 2025, the BSC VCTs have generated Total Return increases of 61.7% (BSC) and 61.3% (BSC2), outperforming the FTSE Small Cap Index (53.6%) during the same period.

These results underscore YFM’s and the BSC VCTs long-standing track record of identifying scalable, high-quality businesses and supporting them to realise value over the long term.

The BSC VCTs’ portfolios reflect YFM’s expertise in data, application software and tech-enabled services, sectors which now represent around three-quarters of portfolio value.

Examples of fast-growing portfolio businesses include:

• Xapien transforms third-party due diligence by delivering fast, AI-powered stakeholder research that uncovers hidden risks across global jurisdictions. It automates background checks and risk assessments – turning days of work into minutes.
• Summize eliminates the friction of contract management by integrating with everyday tools like Teams, Slack, and Word. Its AI-powered platform extracts and summarizes contract data instantly – bridging the gap between legal and business teams.

• Fuuse powers the future of mobility by delivering flexible, scalable EV charging solutions that work for businesses, fleets, and communities.

• StormHarvester uses data and AI to optimize water infrastructure – helping cities and utilities make smarter decisions that reduce flooding, save energy, and protect the environment.

Together, these businesses, and many others across the portfolio, are creating skilled jobs, driving innovation and helping to strengthen the growth in regional economies.

“The British Smaller Companies VCTs have a long and successful history of supporting growing UK businesses. This fundraising will allow the VCTs to continue investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovative companies across the regions, while also providing further capital to help existing portfolio businesses scale and succeed.”

For more information about the Offers, visit the YFM Fundraising page.

This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice. It is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment instruments. Capital is at risk and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.