The offer, which opened at the beginning of December, is for up to 15 million ordinary shares of 10p each to be issued at 102.5p.

It closes on 5 April 2007 in relation to the offer for the 2006 – 2007 tax year and on 30 April 2007 in relation to the offer for the 2007 – 2008 tax year. In a bid to attract investors, there is also a range of bonus share incentives attached to the offer.

Applications received from existing shareholders will, YFM says, attract a further 50 free shares for every 1,000 applied for until 2 March 2007. New investors or those who invest £50,000 or more will be eligible to receive a further 25 free shares for every 1,000 applied for until 28 February 2007.

The private equity firm adds that one of the principal advantages of the fundraising will be to allow the BSC VCT to continue making investments in order to maintain a well-diversified portfolio of investments.

2007 research carried out by Business XL has shown that Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) currently have over £1 billion to invest in young, growing companies.