The Baronsmead Venture Trust and Second Venture Trust, managed by Gresham House, have launched a fresh £30m offer with an over-allotment option of £20m.
The firm is seeking further liquidity for the trusts to take advantage of new investment opportunities across “a wide range of innovative early-stage UK businesses” and enable additional support for existing portfolio companies.
The trusts successfully completed a £50m fundraise last year, which Gresham House said reflects continued strong investor demand despite headwinds in the fundraising environment.
They closed a series of deals in the second half of 2024, including a £2m investment into adventure travel scale-up Much Better Adventures and a £2.4m investment into cybersecurity business OnSecurity in the unquoted part of the portfolio.
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The VCTs also made a £4.3m investment in AI consulting and platform business IntelliAM, and put £1.4m into energy services company Earnz in the quoted part of the portfolio.
Baronsmead Venture Trust was one of the first VCTs to launch in 1995, with Baronsmead Second Venture Trust following in 2001.
The VCTs are two of the largest on the market, with combined net assets of £433m as of 30 November 2024. The portfolios are divided between Aim-quoted companies and unquoted companies.
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James Hendry, investment director at Gresham House, and manager of the Baronsmead VCTs, said: “Venture capital trusts play a vital role in supporting the UK’s SME landscape, which is critical to delivering growth for the wider economy.
“Demand for VCTs remains strong in light of continued support for the vehicles in the recent Budget, so we are excited to be launching this share offer for the proven Baronsmead VCTs at this time.”
