Hargreave Hale AIM VCT Launches £20m Fundraise to Back UK Innovation

23 January 2026, London, UK – Hargreave Hale AIM VCT, a leading AIM venture capital trust supporting innovative UK businesses, today announced a new share offer to raise up to £20 million, with an additional £10 million through an over-allotment facility.

The fundraise follows recent Budget changes that increase funding limits for companies, unlocking opportunities for exceptional businesses previously unable to access VCT investment.

Having launched in 2004, the Hargreave Hale AIM VCT offers investors exposure to a well-established, maturing portfolio of high-growth businesses, with the added tax benefits associated with a VCT. Today, the VCT has a diversified qualifying portfolio of 54 high growth companies, mostly companies listed on AIM but also private companies, across a wide variety of sectors. Although companies may be small at the point of investment, the VCT’s long‑term approach has resulted in a portfolio with a strong base of mature, established and profitable businesses, with 17 qualifying companies now held for more than 10 years.

Current portfolio highlights include:

• Qureight – AI-powered imaging transforming clinical trials
• Gousto – one of the UK’s most tech-driven meal-kit companies
• Cohort – global defence solutions safeguarding nations
• Diaceutics – accelerating precision medicine through diagnostic data

The VCT is managed by a dedicated team of four investment professionals with 50+ years’ combined experience in small-cap investing and supported by a wider fund management team that includes a further nine fund managers and analysts.

Oliver Bedford, Lead Manager of the Hargreave Hale AIM VCT, commented:

“The UK continues to brim with innovation and ambition. Our growth ecosystem is producing rapidly growing, world-class companies as evidenced by the weighted average 3-year revenue compound annual growth rate of 19.8% for the VCT qualifying companies in our portfolio. With the UK public markets continuing to misprice growth, and value our small companies at a substantial discount to their long-term average earnings, the opportunity for investors is compelling.

“The new VCT rules that come into effect in April will allow us to expand our reach and continue to connect investors with exceptional companies as they turn today’s ideas into tomorrow’s successes. We will be able to provide more financial support to more companies and for longer, helping us to capture additional value for our investors. This is an exciting time to back companies ‘Made in Britain’.”

Lucy Bloomfield, Co-Manager of the Hargreave Hale AIM VCT, said:

“We continue to uncover companies with strong fundamentals, real earnings progression, and compelling valuations. Within our own VCT qualifying portfolio weighted average revenues are c. £58m and average profits c. £4.3m.

“While the macro-economic backdrop has been challenging, for most of these companies, their success is driven more by strategic execution and we have witnessed their resilience as they continue to develop new products, expand into new markets, and lay the foundations for shareholder value.

“With value and growth on offer within the portfolio and, more broadly, across the UK, we think now is a good time for investors to allocate capital and back Britain’s most exciting companies.”

About the offer

The fundraise offers investors the opportunity to invest into the new ordinary shares of a tax efficient HMRC approved structure that includes upfront income tax relief, tax-free dividends and exemption from capital gains tax.

The VCT has a well-established track record of paying out tax free dividends to shareholders and has a dividend policy to target a tax-free dividend yield equivalent to 5% of the VCT’s year-end Net Asset Value subject to performance, the availability of distributable reserves, cash resources and the VCT rules.

The VCT also offers a dividend re-investment scheme (DRIS) which attracts income tax relief, along with a regular share buy-back policy providing liquidity for investors.

The new share offer is open until 17.00 on 25 March 2026 for the 2025/2026 tax year and 17.00 on 15 December for the 2026/2027 tax year, or until fully subscribed.

Related content

2026 offer document

2026 offer launch video 

Meet the founder: Timo Boldt, Gousto

AIM: Looking forward with optimism

Important information

Investment involves risk and you may not get back what you invest. It’s not suitable for everyone.

The VCT invests in small, high risk companies, which are mostly listed on AIM. These companies may have volatile share prices and the investments may be difficult to realise. VCT investors are also exposed to changes in legislation that may adversely affect the company’s status as a VCT and its ability to meet the investment objectives and/or reduce the level of achievable return. There can be no guarantee that the VCT will meet its objectives or that suitable investment opportunities will be identified. A failure to maintain the qualifying status could result in the VCT losing the tax reliefs previously obtained, resulting in adverse tax consequences for investors.

About Hargreave Hale AIM VCT

The Hargreave Hale AIM VCT is managed by Canaccord Asset Management‘s (CAM) VCT investment team of four and is supported by a wider fund management team that includes a further nine fund managers and analysts. CAM is a respected fund manager with a strong track record and more than 25 years’ experience investing into small companies. The team has deep sector expertise, an extensive market network and a strong track record. This expertise enables the team to consistently identify and secure high-quality investment opportunities.

With £1.95bn of assets currently under management (as at 31 December 2025), the Canaccord Asset Management fund management team brings both scale and insight. As part of Canaccord Group, the VCT fund management team also benefits from robust operational infrastructure across compliance, governance, HR, legal and IT. This support allows the VCT to operate as a lean, independently managed team, free to focus on sourcing the best opportunities and actively supporting portfolio companies on their growth journeys.

Canaccord Genuity Wealth Limited (CGWL) acts as custodian of Hargreave Hale AIM VCT plc and approves marketing material on behalf of Hargreave Hale AIM VCT. CGWL is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with firm reference number 194927. CGWL has its registered office at 88 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7QR. CGWL is registered in England and Wales under Company no. 03739694, is a member of the Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management group of companies and is a subsidiary of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.

Canaccord Genuity Asset Management Limited (CGAML), acting under its trading name Canaccord Asset Management (CAM), acts as the investment manager and administrator of Hargreave Hale AIM VCT plc. CGAML is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with firm reference number 209741. CGAML has its registered office at 88 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7QR. CGAML is registered in England and Wales under Company no. 03146580, is a member of the Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (CGWM) group of companies and is a subsidiary of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. Hargreave Hale AIM VCT plc is registered in England and Wales under Company no. 05206425. The Hargreave Hale AIM VCT is also registered as a small UK alternative investment fund manager.