Mobeus VCTs raise £45 million within 24 hours

The four Mobeus VCTs launched at 9am on Monday 17th October seeking to raise £76m. They raised a staggering £45 million within the first 24 hours – with over £24 million raised in the first three hours alone.

Alex Davies, CEO and founder of Wealth Club says: “With a whopping £45 million raised in the first 24 hours, this is the fastest-selling VCT offer we have seen. Despite the gloomy economic outlook, investors are still exceptionally keen to invest and support early-stage businesses when the right opportunity is presented to them.

The demand for the Mobeus VCTs comes as no surprise. They have been the top four performing VCTs over both five and 10 years and have always had a hugely loyal following. Indeed, more than 1,500 of clients had registered their interest in the offer even before it opened.

That said, with tax rates back to their highest in 70 years and restrictions on the amount wealthier investors can hold in a pension showing no signs of abating, we expect demand for VCTs in general to remain strong this year.”

If you spot an offer you like act now

Davies continues: “VCTs have a finite capacity: an offer launches with a specific amount to raise and once that’s reached, the offer closes. The speed of the Mobeus raise shows demand is still strong despite the uncertainty. Therefore, if you spot a VCT you like, apply for it now or you could easily miss out.”

About the Mobeus VCTS:

The VCTs’ portfolios include around 41 companies, currently valued at £365.7 million (June 2022), including Virgin Wines and MPB, the world’s leading marketplace for used photo and video equipment.
The VCTs offer exposure to a diverse range of sectors, although technology-enabled investments are preferred – software and computer services represent the largest sector concentration at c.41%.
In the five years to September 2022, the four VCTs generated NAV total returns (including dividends reinvested) ranging from 74.8% (Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT) to 105.1% (Mobeus Income & Growth VCT), with the latter effectively doubling investors’ money.
About some of the holdings in the Mobeus VCTs

Preservica – largest holding: Preservica was spun out of a previous Mobeus investment, Tessella, in 2015, with Mobeus initially investing £3 million. The company had developed a digital preservation system in partnership with the National Archives to store crucial digital data and documents.

Effective storage for digital data is increasingly important as both the quantity of digital data produced increases and the speed of innovation renders old formats obsolete. That presents a challenge when data might need to be stored and accessed years later to protect intellectual property, meet regulatory requirements or preserve documents of cultural or academic significance.

Preservica continues to grow strongly and now works with four of the UK’s 10 largest businesses and 26 US State Archives, and more than 350 customers across more than 20 countries worldwide.

Mobeus has steadily supported that growth, investing a total of £15 million. The overall holding is now valued at £47.2 million and represents the largest growth capital investment across the four VCTs combined. Past performance is not a guide to the future.

FocalPoint Positioning – recent investment: Founded in 2015 by Dr Ramsey Faragher, FocalPoint Positioning aims to significantly improve the accuracy of positioning data for smartphones and autonomous platforms, indoors and out.
It is claimed over $1 trillion of the US economy, and €800 billion of the European economy depends on the Global Navigation Satellite System. Despite this, FocalPoint believes the accuracy of current receivers is a long way from where it needs to be.

FocalPoint believes its technology is up to 10x more accurate in urban areas and can significantly lower battery usage. The technology has several use cases including sports wearables, pedestrian navigation, and asset tracking.

The Mobeus VCTs initially invested £2.2 million in September 2022 as part of a larger $17 million funding round supported by existing investor Molten Ventures.

Three Wealth Club VCT picks

Albion VCTs – the six Albion VCTs give investors exposure to what the manager describes as an “all-weather portfolio”: c.70 companies in a broad spread of sectors, including healthcare, fintech, software, business services and renewable energy, across a range of maturity stages, from seed to Series B funding rounds. The VCTs target annual dividends of 5% of net assets, to be paid twice a year, each VCT in a different month. So, investors in all six VCTs could potentially receive tax-free dividends once a month throughout the year.
Pembroke VCT – this is a VCT that’s coming of age. Launched in 2013, it has now started to achieve exits: fresh pasta delivery service Pasta Evangelists, then organic plant-powered drinks brand Plenish and most recently women’s fashion retailer ME+EM. These have helped the VCT pay 12p in special dividends. The portfolio still looks very promising, with a good number of fast-growing companies.
Mobeus VCTs – these are some of the most popular VCTs and are likely to close soon. To date, the four VCTs have handsomely rewarded investors: they are the top four performing VCTs over both five and 10 years to September 2022. Over 10 years, they have on average trebled investors’ money. The current portfolio still looks promising, with most of the recent investments in technology-enabled companies.