Venture capital trust fundraising passes £1bn in 2021-22

In 2021-22 the amount of money raised by venture capital trust passed the £1bn milestone for the first time raising £1.13b to be invested in small and innovative UK companies the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has revealed.

This is a 65% increase on 2020-21 (£685m) when the pandemic had an impact on fundraising. It is a 45% increase on the previous record of £779m in 2005-06 when the tax relief on VCT investments was 40% and an increase of 55% on 2018-19 when £731m was raised the highest amount when the tax relief was 30% the same as it is today.

During 2021 VCTs invested £668.6m in new and follow-on investments in the UK’s small private companies and Alternative Investment Market (AIM) companies.

Richard Stone AIC chief executive said: ‘This record level of VCT fundraising is excellent news for the UK’s small and fast-growing...