| Target dividend: | 5% of NAV |
|---|---|
| Wealth Club initial saving: | 4% (5% existing investors) |
| Net initial charge: | 1.5% (0.5% existing investors) |
| Annual rebate: | – |
| Funds raised / sought: | £332k / £20m |
| Minimum investment: | £3,000 |
| Next deadline: | 15 Dec 2025 (5pm) for 1% early bird |
Important documents
| Target dividend: | 5% of NAV |
|---|---|
| Wealth Club initial saving: | 4% (5% existing investors) |
| Net initial charge: | 1.5% (0.5% existing investors) |
| Annual rebate: | – |
| Funds raised / sought: | £332k / £20m |
| Minimum investment: | £3,000 |
| Next deadline: | 15 Dec 2025 (5pm) for 1% early bird |
Important documents
The Blackfinch Spring VCT launched in 2020 and targets tech-enabled businesses with the potential to grow quickly by disrupting their end markets. The VCT invests in a mixture of follow-on and co-investment deals alongside Blackfinch’s EIS Fund.
The VCT has net assets of £64.2 million, of which £52.2 million is invested in 35 early-stage companies, and £12 million across money market funds and net cash (June 2025).
In the five years to June 2025, the VCT achieved a NAV total return of 12.6%. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
- Seeking to raise up to £20 million with a £20 million overallotment facility
- Available in the 2025/26 tax year; applications for 2026/27 will be available in due course
- Target dividend of 5% of NAV – variable and not guaranteed
- Minimum investment: £3,000
- Deadline: 15 December 2025 (5pm) for 1% early bird saving
Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not a personal recommendation to invest. If you’re unsure, please seek advice. Investments are for the long term. They are high risk and illiquid and can fall as well as rise in value: you could lose all the money you invest.
The manager
Founded in 2004, Blackfinch Group has over £920 million under management (September 2025).
The group launched its first EIS fund in 2015, focusing on asset-backed or media investments. In 2017, to adapt to new EIS rules, Blackfinch started its transition towards growth-style investments: it made changes to its team and launched Blackfinch Ventures. Blackfinch Ventures has around £125 million under management (September 2025).
The division has been headed by Dr Dan Appleby since April 2025. Dan, who joined Blackfinch in 2018 as an investment manager, and has served as Chief Investment Officer for the past two years, supported by the Ventures team of 10 investment professionals.
In addition, Blackfinch Ventures has an external network of Venture Partners: experienced senior professionals and entrepreneurs, who can provide deal flow and advice to the investment team, as well as serve as non-executive directors for portfolio companies. Currently, all but two companies have a Venture Partner on their board.
Investment strategy
The VCT aims to invest in early-stage technology-enabled companies that have a strong focus on R&D and innovation and have met milestones set in previous investment rounds. Companies will also need to show evidence of product-market fit, often via revenue, and an ability to acquire new customers.
Blackfinch intends to invest across a variety of sectors and stages of maturity, although it prefers Series A funding rounds. As the portfolio continues to develop, the trust is likely to favour follow-on investments and co-investment opportunities with Blackfinch’s EIS Fund. In the last six months, the VCT co-invested in three companies alongside the EIS fund (June 2025).
Deals are sourced from Blackfinch’s distribution network as well as accelerator programmes such as Future Worlds. Blackfinch receives between 1,000-2,000 leads each year, from which the VCT is expected to select approximately 5-15.
Blackfinch assesses companies’ financials, technology, and VCT eligibility. After investment, each company is monitored by a board observer from Blackfinch, and a non-executive director may also be appointed from Blackfinch’s network of Venture Partners. Blackfinch’s portfolio team will work together with NEDs to collect monthly financial and KPI data from the companies.
Current portfolio overview
The VCT has net assets of £64.2 million, of which £52.2 million is invested in a portfolio of 35 early-stage companies, whilst £12 million is held in money market funds and net cash (June 2025).
In the six months to June 2025, the VCT invested £3.9 million in four new companies and £8.8 million in 14 follow-on investments.
The portfolio is invested across a variety of technology companies engaged in a range of activities from human resources to marketing and business supply chain management. There is a strong focus on business-to-business, with only a small number of companies targeting consumers. That said, the VCT is still comparatively young and is building up its portfolio, which is currently concentrated, with the top 10 holdings accounting for 45.7% of net assets.
Sector breakdown
Source: Blackfinch Ventures, June 2025.
Largest holding
Illuma Technology
For decades, websites and online advertisers have relied on information collected through digital third-party cookies to target users. However, with cookies laws tightening and Google, Mozilla, and Apple announcing plans to phase-out support over privacy concerns, advertisers are looking at alternatives to connect with the right audiences.
Illuma circumvents this. It bases targeting on content rather than people. Its AI technology analyses webpages to find the content most relevant to its adverts. It then continually monitors engagement and uses these patterns to optimise campaigns in real time.
The business has received investment from venture capital firm Praetura Ventures and counts some of the world’s biggest advertisers such as Procter & Gamble and Sky as clients. In August 2024, Illuma announced a partnership with News UK, the publisher of titles such as The Sun and The Times, to help identify additional brand-safe advertising opportunities, delivering an increase of over 10% on average in early trials.
Blackfinch first invested in 2021, since then, the business has expanded to the US and secured large global customers such as Amazon, Coca Cola, and Walmart. To date, the VCT has invested £1.5 million, currently valued at £3.7 million, 5.8% of net assets (June 2025). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Recent investment
Neuranics
Founded in 2021, Neuranics is a joint spinout from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Muscular activity is traditionally recorded using electromyography (EMG), which takes readings of electrical activity using electrodes placed under the skin. However, this method has limited sensitivity and can lead to muscle damage in extreme cases. As an alternative, Neuranics has developed a new way to capture signals between the brain and muscles, using a non-invasive, small magnetic sensor.
Neuranics believes its sensor’s high sensitivity, compact design, and low power consumption make the technology well-suited for new types of human-machine interaction, ranging from advanced prosthetics to accurate motion tracking in virtual reality.
Blackfinch led an $8 million funding round in April 2025, investing £1.5 million through the VCT. The funding will be used to strengthen the team and build out its core technologies.
Exit track record
The VCT is still comparatively young, so the track record remains limited and it has yet to experience any cash exits.
However, as is to be expected when investing in young businesses, failures often precede successes, and to date the VCT has experienced two failures (an example is detailed below).
Example of previous failure
Kokoon Technology
Kokoon Technology (“Kokoon”) manufactured headphones designed to help users sleep.
While the company initially gained traction, it struggled with shifting consumer behaviour and product delivery challenges. It began experiencing cash flow issues in 2024 and was unable to secure financing despite reducing its overhead costs and securing a capital repayment holiday.
The company entered administration in May 2025 and the VCT’s investment of £500,000 was fully written down.
Performance and dividends
The VCT targets a dividend yield of 5% of NAV – dividends are variable and not guaranteed.
It started paying dividends in 2024, funded from the conversion of the VCT’s share premium account. However, the VCT board believes dividends are “supported by increases in the value of investments that [the board] expect to be realised in future” – not guaranteed.
In the five years to June 2025, the VCT achieved a NAV total return of 12.6%. Past performance is not a guide to the future. Note, we show VCT returns over a five-year period as a minimum, where possible. Where a VCT has followed the same investment strategy for longer, we also show returns over 10 years.
NAV and cumulative dividends per share over five years (p)
Source: Morningstar. Past performance is no guide to the future. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed. The bar chart shows net asset value and cumulative dividends per share for the period 31/12/2020 – 30/06/2025.
Dividend payments in the calendar year
Source: Morningstar. Past performance is not a guide to the future. Dividends are not guaranteed. The graph shows the dividends paid per calendar year to 30/06/2025.
Dividend yield history (% of starting NAV)
| Calendar year | Dividend as % of NAV |
|---|---|
| 2020 | — |
| 2021 | — |
| 2022 | — |
| 2023 | — |
| 2024 | 5.0% |
| YTD | 2.4% |
Source: Morningstar. Dividend yields are based on the dividends paid over the period divided by the starting NAV of the VCT in each period. Past performance is no guide to the future.
Dividend reinvestment scheme
The VCT intends to operate a dividend investment scheme that allows shareholders to reinvest future cash dividend payments in new shares if desired. As these are new shares they should be eligible for tax relief (you will need to claim this on your tax return or directly with HMRC) and the shares will count towards the VCT annual subscription limit.
Share buyback policy
The VCT may operate a buyback policy at a 5% discount to the shares’ net asset value. This is not guaranteed – please see the offer documents for details.
Discount history
VCT shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. Similar to investment trusts, the share price can fluctuate and can be different from the VCT’s net asset value (NAV), i.e. the value of the VCT’s underlying investments. The difference between the share price of a VCT and its net asset value per share is called a discount.
Based on data from Morningstar, the discount to NAV as at 30 June 2025 was 4.6%. Over the previous five years the average discount to NAV was 4.9%.
The discount history is based on the closing share price of the VCTs at the end of each month, divided by the latest net asset value at the time. Past performance is not a guide to the future. Investors looking to sell their VCT shares may get a better price using the VCTs’ share buyback facilities, although this is not guaranteed.
Risks: important
This, like all investments available through Wealth Club, is only for experienced investors happy to make their own investment decisions without advice.
VCTs are high-risk so should only form part of a balanced portfolio and you should not invest money you cannot afford to lose. They also tend to be illiquid and hard to sell and value. Before you invest, please carefully read the Risks and Commitments and the offer documents to ensure you fully understand the risks.
To retain the tax benefits, VCTs should be held for at least five years. If you sell VCT shares and reinvest in new shares of the same VCT (including any mergers) within six months, tax relief can be restricted. Tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances.
Charges and savings
A summary of the main charges and savings is shown below. The net initial charge shown includes the Wealth Club saving and any early bird discount. The investment may have additional charges and expenses: please see the provider documents including the Key Information Document for more details, offer price and share allotment calculation methodology.
Please note the existing investor discount is available to investors in any Blackfinch product, not just VCT investors.
Please note, capacity – for the offer or any early bird savings – can be reached early, and we may not be notified of this by the VCT in real time.
| Full initial charge | 5.5% |
| Early bird discount | 1% |
| Wealth Club initial saving | 3% |
| Existing investor discount | 1% |
| Net initial charge through Wealth Club (new investors) | 1.5% |
| Net initial charge through Wealth Club (existing investors) | 0.5% |
| Annual management charge | 2.5% |
| Annual administration charge | 0.3% |
| Performance fee | 20% |
| Annual rebate from Wealth Club | - |
More detail on the charges
The full initial charge shown in the table above is before any savings and discounts; the net initial charge is after available savings and discounts.
When you invest through us, Wealth Club will receive commission each year (up to 0.5%). Commission is paid by the product provider so there is no additional charge to you. Please see the provider’s documents, including the Key Information Document, for more details on the total fees and charges.
Annual rebate when you invest through Wealth Club
The Blackfinch Spring VCT offer includes an annual rebate for Wealth Club investors, payable for the first three years. This is a rebate of our renewal commission and should be equivalent to a percentage (shown in the table above) of the net asset value of the offer shares issued to you when you invest. Terms and conditions apply.
Deadlines
- 1% early bird saving: 15 December 2025 (5pm)
- Final Allotment in the 2025/26 tax year: 1 April 2026 (3pm)
- Final Allotment in the 2026/27 tax year: 24 August 2026 (5pm)
Our view
The VCT has made good progress in developing its portfolio – now including over 30 tech-enabled, mostly B2B, businesses.
The team’s ability to maintain its rate of deployment, while sticking to its proposed strategy is encouraging and has been supported by co-investment and follow-on opportunities from Blackfinch’s EIS service. However, concentration risk is likely to remain high while it continues to build its portfolio and there has been a recent change in the senior investment team.
While it may still be too early to draw conclusions on the merits of this offer, Blackfinch has a track record of being able to both attract and deploy capital efficiently. However, please note that although this young VCT has started paying dividends, it has yet to achieve any positive exits.
This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 12 September 2025
Wealth Club aims to make it easier for experienced investors to find information on – and apply for – investments. You should base your investment decision on the offer documents and ensure you have read and fully understand them before investing. The information on this webpage is a marketing communication. It is not advice or a personal or research recommendation to buy any of the investments mentioned, nor does it include any opinion as to the present or future value or price of these investments. It does not satisfy legal requirements promoting investment research independence and is thus not subject to prohibitions on dealing ahead of its dissemination.