Praetura Growth VCT

This is a new VCT managed by Praetura Ventures (“Praetura”), a venture capital firm focused primarily on the North of England.

Praetura Ventures is a division of Praetura Group, which was founded in 2011 to provide funding to small and medium-sized enterprises. The group has £805 million assets under management, of which £310 million within Praetura Ventures (June 2025).

The VCT follows the same investment strategy as – and co-invests with – the EIS fund, which launched in 2019 and has to date invested £66.9 million in 49 companies. Praetura targets regional businesses with a focus on the technology and healthcare sectors. Initially, the VCT is expected to make follow-on investments in Praetura’s existing portfolio companies.

The VCT was admitted to the London Stock Exchange in April 2024. It has net assets of £3.7 million, of which £3.1 million is invested in nine companies.

The VCT aims to start paying an annual dividend of 4-6p per share from 2027. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed.

• Seeking to raise up to £10 million, with a £10 million overallotment facility
• Targets annual dividends of 4-6% of NAV from 2027 – not guaranteed
• Available for the 2025/26 tax year
• Minimum investment £3,000 – you can apply online
• Offer closes 31 Oct 2025

Praetura Group was founded in 2011 to capitalise on what the founding partners believe is a sizeable opportunity to invest in early-stage businesses in the North of England. Today it consists of six subsidiary businesses, including Praetura Ventures, which provides a range of operational and financial services. The Group currently manages £805 million.

Praetura Ventures was established in 2018. A year later, it launched its EIS fund, which has raised £71.4 million to date, and also manages money on behalf of British Business Investments Regional Angel Programme and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. 

Praetura Ventures has an investment team of 18, split between three divisions: technology, healthcare, and portfolio. The technology and healthcare teams are responsible for due diligence and deal selection while the portfolio team provides post-investment strategic support. Praetura’s network of seven Operational Partners – who previously had senior roles at companies such as AO.com and JD Sports – serve as mentors to the portfolio. 

Praetura staff, Operational Partners and people associated with the manager have invested £1.1 million in the VCT.

The North of England accounts for around 20% of the UK’s population, economic output, and active companies but just 7% of the UK’s venture capital investment. Praetura believes there is a funding gap of almost £10 billion for early-stage businesses in the region. The Praetura Growth VCT aims to capitalise on this.

The manager favours B2B business models, as they typically provide access to larger clients and stickier revenue streams. Companies must be scalable and able to demonstrate momentum at the point of investment. Ideally, businesses should be considered capable of doubling revenues each year post investment. 

While the team will consider any sector, the portfolio is likely to be weighted towards technology and healthcare. Roughly two-thirds of funds raised are expected to be deployed in companies outside of London and the South East.

Due to its strong regional network, Praetura does not do any outbound deal sourcing. Instead, it relies on its partnerships with accountancy firms and accelerator programmes as this also provides external validation. The investment team reviews over 200 opportunities each month. Praetura aims to be one of the first institutional investors in each deal, looking to lead rounds with an investment of £1 million to £3 million and take an initial equity stake of 5-30%.

Once a company receives investment, Praetura will offer strategic support through a range of services. Investee companies will have access to its Operational Partners programme, corporate partnerships, and Praetura’s in-house financial reporting platform which is integrated into each business.

The VCT listed in April 2024 and is starting to build its portfolio.

By January 2025 it had invested £3.1 million into nine companies and held £635,000 in cash. The VCT’s three largest investments, Seatfrog (below), Agent Software (trading as Street Group) and Iluma each account for around 14% of NAV, while the smallest investment, Coadjute accounts for 3%.

Please note, it may take several years to establish a well-diversified portfolio. Praetura expects to make six to eight follow-on investments each year, either co-investing alongside the EIS Fund or backing previous EIS portfolio companies.

Of the companies backed by the VCT 58% were based outside the South of England.

As this is a new VCT there is no track record. However, the team has had successful exits prior to the launch of its EIS fund, including EC3 Brokers (19.2x realised return) and Pib (3x realised return). Praetura believes each would have been VCT qualifying under current rules. Past performance is not a guide to the future. 

An example of failure is Orka, a matchmaking recruitment service for companies and temporary workers. The company’s turnover fell by almost a third in 2023 and led to cash flow difficulties. Whilst management took steps to reduce costs and raise funds, they were unable to secure further investment and appointment administrators in May 2024. In total, Praetura invested £3 million into the business through its EIS fund, this position has subsequently been written down to nil.

The VCT is targeting an annual dividend of 4-6% of NAV from 2027, not guaranteed. 

As this is a new VCT, there is no significant performance track record. However, it will be managed by Praetura Ventures, the same team responsible for Praetura’s EIS investments.

Since 2019, the Praetura EIS fund has invested £66.9 million across 49 EIS-qualifying companies. When investing in small businesses failures tend to come before exits and to date the fund has seen six failures with no exits. The remaining portfolio is valued at £56.1 million. Past performance is not a guide to the future.

Dividend payments in the calendar year

The VCT does not expect to pay a dividend until at least 2027 – not guaranteed. 

Share buybacks

The VCT plans to operate a policy of purchasing their own shares as they become available in the market at a discount of up to 5% to the latest published NAV. This is not guaranteed – please see the offer documents for details. The discount to NAV could also be greater or less than 5%. 

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.

As this is a new VCT it will take time to build a portfolio of investments, during this time the trust is likely to be more concentrated, costs may have a larger impact and no dividend payments are expected until at least 2027.

Annual rebate when you invest through Wealth Club

The Praetura Growth VCT includes an annual rebate for Wealth Club investors, payable for the first three years.

This should be equivalent to a percentage (shown in the table above) of the Net Asset Value of your shares and will be paid out of our standard ongoing renewal commission. Terms and conditions apply.

Deadlines

The offer closing date has been extended on two occasions. The prospectus states that the offer will close no later than 31 October 2025 (3pm).

Praetura Ventures has built a well-resourced, professional venture capital team and has developed a reputation as a committed regional investor, with the majority of its portfolio based outside of London and the South East. This focus, combined with the team’s post-investment support, helps Praetura attract deal flow from across the UK, providing the VCT with a large pipeline of opportunities. 

While this is a new VCT, Praetura is an experienced manager and has been investing in early-stage companies for over a decade. It has seen some success in that time, with five profitable EIS-qualifying exits. Past performance is not a guide to the future.

As a new VCT, it will not be paying dividends for some years and the portfolio will be concentrated in the early years, making it a riskier investment. Nonetheless, this may be worth considering to complement an existing VCT portfolio.

This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 9 June 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.