Octopus Investments, an investment manager on a mission to back the people, ideas and industries that will change the world, announces Octopus Apollo Venture Capital Trust (Apollo VCT) is accepting applications for the 2026/27 tax year from today, Monday 20th April 2026.
Apollo VCT completed the single largest VCT fundraise of the 25/26 tax year, raising £82.4m. With £17.6m remaining from a total of £100m available, capacity is limited. Valid applications received before 5pm on 26 June 2026 will also benefit from a 2% discount to the initial fee, with an additional 1% discount for existing shareholders.
Reopening applications for Apollo VCT provides investors with an exciting opportunity to benefit from the VCT investment limit changes that came into effect on 6th April. As one of the largest VCTs in the market, Apollo is ideally suited to take advantage of the doubling of the annual and lifetime investment limits for each company, to £20m and £40m respectively.
These limits increase the scope for Apollo VCT to keep backing its strongest portfolio companies beyond the initial investment — supporting longer runways and larger follow-on rounds as these businesses scale. Apollo VCT is one of the very few VCTs able to invest the full £40m into a single company without breaching the 15% concentration limits that apply to VCTs, allowing it take advantage of its team’s specialist expertise in scaling businesses to put more capital behind its highest-conviction investments.
Apollo VCT aims to accelerate the growth of commercialised, AI-enabled, business-to-business (B2B) software companies. It focuses on businesses that have already taken their product or service to market and are seeking capital to scale, whether that’s to expand into new geographies or to increase sales efforts.
Apollo VCT looks for companies with:
- Annual revenues that are approaching £1 million and up to £10 million typically, with the majority from recurring or contracted sources. This ensures the business has proven demand for its solution.
- A growing and diversified customer base with a clear trajectory towards profitability.
- A clearly defined business model and a competitive edge. This may, for example, involve proprietary technology, industry-leading innovation or a foothold in a niche market.
- Strong management with the business being led by high-calibre management teams with extensive industry experience and expertise.
Apollo VCT, and its portfolio of approximately 45 companies, is managed by a specialist investment team of 16 that sits within Octopus Ventures. They have extensive experience in sourcing investment opportunities, executing deals, and managing portfolios of maturer venture capital B2B software companies. The team uses this expertise to support the next part of the growth journey of the companies in which they invest.
Examples of two recent investments include:
- Flexzo AI: An agentic AI workforce system helping healthcare providers solve chronic staffing shortages and reduce reliance on costly agencies. Its platform combines rostering and staff bank tools with a national pool of pre-verified clinicians, automatically matching demand to the lowest-cost safe staffing option in real time.
- Definely: Definely is a LegalTech company created to make legal documents easier to draft, edit and complete. It started as a solution to improve accessibility in the legal industry but now has evolved into a product that boosts productivity for corporate lawyers.
Richard Court, Head of VCTs and EIS at Octopus Investments, commented:
“Apollo VCT has always focused on backing high-quality B2B software businesses with the potential to become category leaders. The recent changes to the VCT rules create a clear opportunity to support these exciting businesses for longer as they scale. With its scale and established portfolio, Apollo VCT is well positioned to invest in larger, more mature businesses and to continue backing its strongest performers through later stages of growth.
That ability to stay alongside companies for longer is critical in sectors like software and AI, where value is often created over extended periods. Few VCTs have the scale to deploy capital at this level while maintaining diversification: that’s where Apollo VCT stands apart.”
Kristy Barr, Co-Head of Retail Investments, Octopus Investments said:
“We’re seeing continued demand from advisers and investors for VCTs that can offer both consistency and access to later-stage growth opportunities. The evolution of the VCT scheme broadens the opportunity and allows VCT managers to support companies at a greater scale, while continuing to offer compelling up-front tax relief, and tax-free dividends and growth.”
Apollo VCT’s size is a real differentiator. It provides the flexibility to deploy meaningful capital into more established businesses, while still maintaining a diversified portfolio. For investors, that combination of scale, selectivity and long-term support is increasingly valuable in the current market.”
The minimum investment amount for Apollo VCT is £5,000. The new share offer intends to open until 26th June 2026. The offer will close earlier if it becomes fully subscribed.
